Healthcare and Operational Transformation

I don’t believe, in a 10 year period of time, we are going to appreciably alter the process of actual clinical care.  That is to say, going to the doctor 10 years from now is not likely to be a different experience than it is today.  If we think back 25 years to our experiences with medical care, there has not been significant change… despite, the trends of patient centered care, HMO’s and a barrage of other well meaning clinical care trends.  I think there are a number of characteristics of “medical care” culture that make altering its behavioral and cultural paradigm very difficult.  It is ultimately a very fragmented professional body… many individual professionals and numerous practices without a technology to appreciably facilitate a change in clinical practice behavior.  The real estate profession was similarly locked into a specific behavioral trend for many decades until the internet forced a change in practical behavior.  The clinical lobbies and commercial enterprises invested in clinical practice not changing are considerable.  So how can change really be affected?

Politics vs Economics and Healthcare

As a new blogger… I have started following a number of healthcare blogs.  One I find interesting is Action for Better Healthcare.  The December 3^rd posting asks if it is reasonable to fix the issues with the bill after the election… the argument being offered by those in the house supporting the reform bill.  I would say, at a minimum, it is a very risky strategy for such a large percentage of our economy.

We inside healthcare are not mistaken when it comes to the social and operational complexity of our sector so I am not surprised at the rush to get the healthcare bill passed given the political reality of house elections next year. After all if the real issues are debated… the bill will, at a minimum, stall and most likely will fail.  I am surprised, however, that even the basic realities of supply and demand are not being argued by those in our country, both inside and outside healthcare, who understand the fundamentals of economics.