I recently made a bet with one of my Emergency Medicine colleagues regarding the outcome of an imaging study. The bet was that the results of the study would be negative from a trauma standpoint. The actual outcome was that the result showed a positive but clinically insignificant result.

So I lost, right? I don’t think so! How did I actually win? The bet was a monetary one ($100). The key to winning is where the money actually goes. No pizza and beer here. Most hospitals, and a few trauma programs, are associated with a charitable foundation. My pediatric trauma program is linked to one for each of the two hospitals that comprise it (Regions Hospital Foundation and Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare Foundation). I wrote a check to one of them, and specified the donation be earmarked for the pediatric trauma program.

Bottom line: Always be a winner! You don’t need to make bets to contribute to charitable foundations, either. Encourage your colleagues (or patients) to contribute to your hospital’s charitable foundation, and let them know that they can direct their donation to whichever program they (or you) suggest.

Related post:

• CharityCheck101 – search for charities (put “hospital” or “trauma” in the Organization Name box)
• Clinically insignificant results – if a tree falls in the forest…