Outliers: Hints of D.C. rancor seep into MGMA

While the atmosphere at the Medical Group Management Association annual conference in San Diego was highly collegial, some traces of Washington's toxic political environment did seep into the event.

One place was on a white board panel where markers were available for people to write down their take-home message from the previous day. For example, one person wrote “ICD-10: Not so Yikes.”

Another made note of keynote speaker George Will, who lectured on how Social Security and Medicare were the roots of today's creeping welfare state, writing “George Will for president” on the board. This was followed later by commenters writing “I'll 2nd” and “I'll 3rd.” Before someone could “4th” the message, however, a mystery dissenter erased the original message.

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