What is Doc-Net?

Do you have any burning issues you'd like to discuss with your colleagues?? Doc-Net is an e-mail discussion network for physicians who are members of, or who are eligible for membership* in, the New Mexico Medical Society. Doc-Net has been incredibly successful, now numbering 630 active participants, and growing daily.

There is great power in numbers. In the current competitive environment, our medical community has become increasingly splintered, and often at odds with itself. Doc-Net has demonstrated that by maintaining open lines of instant communication that reach to all parts of our medical community, that we can bring ourselves together, articulate our common goals, keep each other informed, and even speak with a united voice when the situation warrants.

Topics have been wide-ranging. Around the time of the legislative session, we publish legislative reports and alerts from NMMS (received by Doc-Net subscribers before anyone else gets them). We have extensively discussed the ¡Salud! program and managed care in New Mexico, and problems brought to light on Doc-Net have provided the impetus for improvements in the ¡Salud! program. We have periodically reviewed issues centering around "alternative" and "complementary" medicine. We've discussed the input the medical community might have into the debate over how New Mexico should best spend the tobacco settlement money. We've talked about how New Mexico physicians can most effectively organize themselves.

The topic which has most dominated discussion during the current (2001) legislative session is our campaign to remove gross receipts tax on medical goods and services, as the first step in restoring New Mexico's ability to successfully recruit and retain physicians.

Once again, the 'Health Care Act' has been introduced in Santa Fe, and his provided the impetus for reexamination of the concept of a single payer system as it might be applied in New Mexico.

There are perennial social topics such as abortion, gun control, the death penalty and others which are debated frequently, especially when there is pending legislation on these issues.

There is no cost to join (other than any cost you may have for access to e-mail), and you will receive full instructions. It's easy!

Doc-Net-Digest

In April, 1998 we implemented a new choice for those wishing to participate in Doc-Net but not wanting to receive a large number of e-mail messages. This new feature is called "Doc-Net-Digest", which automatically combines many Doc-Net messages into single e-mail "digests" before they are sent out. (For those who like numbers, each digest contains about 40K, usually somewhere between 15-20 Doc-Net messages. This decreases the volume of Doc-Net messages received to an average about two per week, rarely more than three.

If you choose to subscribe to Doc-Net-Digest, you will still be able to contribute to Doc-Net discussions, but you will not be receiving Doc-Net messages in the same time frame as those on regular Doc-Net, so your responses may be delayed.

How do I Join Doc-Net?

You can most conveniently Sign-Up for Doc-Net or Doc-Net-Digest online with this easy to use form. (Simply click on the link that says "Sign-Up" in the preceding sentence.) This form may also be used by current Doc-Net members who wish to switch from Doc-Net to Doc-Net-Digest (or vice versa), or who wish to unsubscribe. You must be a member of, or eligible for membership in, the New Mexico Medical Society to sign up for Doc-Net.

Doc-Net Publicity Flyer

Doc-Net Information File

* Doc-Net was formerly limited to NMMS members. On 11/14/98, the NMMS Council agreed to open Doc-Net to anyone eligible for membership in the NMMS. It is hoped that active participation in the types of discussion held on Doc-Net will only increase the awareness of the importance of a well-informed, organized approach to the issues facing the medical profession, and may stimulate additional membership in NMMS.