Infinite Possibilities
His name was E. Sophagus Marianas. He worked for an unnamed legislator,and was rumored as the only person on the planet who had read both H.R. 3590 and 3962. The meeting that changed C2’s life began, ironically, in an emergency room. Marianas was there to be treated for thousands of paper cuts, while C2 had some aftershave lotion replaced with a tube of super powerful adhesive by E, so his hands were stuck in his pants.
As Marianas sat at the edge of his seat, lifeblood leaking slowly on the floor, and C2 sat carefully on his left cheek, trying not to break his right wrist, they talked. Marianas explained the theory of triple constraints, a long established reality of engineering, construction, and systems in the real world.
“Look C2, it’s very simple. In any system you can control the price or the exact features or how long to get something done. It’s like a triangular teeter-totter, only two of the corners can touch the ground at a time. Make sense?”
C2 nodded. “I can control price and what service I receive, but not when” He held up one finger. “Or I can control price and when I get help but not what I get.” He held up a third finger, momentarily glad he didn’t need to use the hand glued to his backside, “Or I can control what I get and when, but not how much it costs?”
“Right.”
C2 thought for a moment. “So how is that different from today?”
“Oh, that is medicine today.” Marianas said. “This emergency room is a perfect example. I need to stop bleeding, I need it (ahem) quickly, but I have to pay the eye-popping ER fee. You need… well, I’m not sure.”
“Uhh…ummm….don’t ask. Let’s just say I missed my flight to Brazil. But I get your point. I’ll pay, too. So how will the bill improve this process?”
“Well, in theory, the government will only spend a fixed amount for the shortfall of so called private insurance, so the medical procedure you need will now have a fixed cost, which means your wait time goes up.”
The nurse called Marianas in and he left a short time later, all his tiny cuts super-glued shut. C2 found himself in a curtained cubicle and suspicious that the snuffling sounds of the staff weren’t allergies, but suppressed laughter.
As he left the hospital flexing his newly freed hands it occurred to that with fixed costs and specified treatments, then the only thing that could change was time, and one of the measures of time was “never.” But, along the lines of multiplying any number by zero results in zero, it this bothered him as “never” could kill any quality as well. So, C2 called Marianas to discuss it.
“I was expecting your call. You thought this over huh?”
“Yep, I’ve been telling my roommates that there won’t be any death panels. But I supposed there’s a way that if the time frame becomes never, than the system itself would cease to exist, and well…death.”
“Actually, the ‘never’ time frame can happen. They’re not called death panels, though. They’re referred to as appeal committees, but yeah, they exist even today in insurance companies, just not in the government, except in Indian healthcare and VA facilities.”
“Well, I think I need to be on one.”
“Better to be on the inside than left in the cold?”
“I guess. Mostly, I’m still looking for a new cubicle monkey position after I left my last one.”
“Well, maybe you can help with something. There’s a group of brilliant professors from all the leading universities who’ve come up with a decision modeling system called the infinity sphere (IS).”
C2 showed up to meet the brilliant professors and was ushered into the room where the millions of flashing computer lights told him something important was happening. On a marble pedestal sat the prototype. It was a shiny black sphere with the infinity sign contained in a white circle on its side.
“Welcome C2. My name is Doctor Hunter Truffle, and I am here to instruct you on the use of this device. Here is a stack of medical files and you will use this to specify the service outcome for these six patients. After you read the files, then you access the display on the IS and record that outcome in the file.”
“That doesn’t sound so difficult.”
“Then we’ll leave you to it.”
C2 read through the file, not entirely sure he understood the medical parts, but little comments by prior reader led him through it, then he accessed the IS and in the little round, blue display appeared the words: Signs point to yes.
He worked away on the next case and the IS displayed: “Reply hazy, try again,” then, “Cannot predict now,” and finally, “My sources say no.”
The third one went fast as the IS reported: “Yes – definitely.”
By the end of the day C2 felt overwhelmed with information and that was for only six cases.
“So, then, Doctor Truffle, how does this help the providing of medical care?”
“Well, to cut down on time, it allows us to construct a system for the government that bypasses the need for teams of physicians and nurses and with an expert system operated by one with a unique background similar to your own to act as a faster appeal committee.”
“But wouldn’t that effect quality or costs?”
“Positively so in terms of cost, quality is about the same according to the experts.”
C2 left the building, whistling, happy with his valuable contribution and went home.
M and E listened as C2 related the day’s activities at the research facility.
M thought about it and nodded, “So maybe the government is onto something, reducing the numbers of people on interlocking committees to speed things up. Hmmmm.”
E smacked M and C2 on the backs of their heads.
“What are you guys thinking? A cubicle monkey with a magic 8-ball is now a government death panel?”
When E noticed his hand he used to strike M was stuck to the back of M’s head, C2 said, “Have fun, guys. Hope for a good infinity sphere result.”
- E=MC2
