In my last three posts, I have explained why our current healthcare system has failed to improve health and reduce costs. Then I told you what we must do to begin the journey to improvement. The first order of business is bringing together the stakeholders. That part of the revolution is well underway led by mission driven individuals like Brian Klepper, Jerry Reeves, Steve Schutzer, Jack London, Michael Fine, Nick Heinen, Jeff Hogan, Chris Deacon, Justin Davis, and Kenny Cole. They all exchange ideas on health reform on Klepper’s Healthcare Hackers listserv.
Brian is the leading advocate for healthcare reform that I know of. He has been a mentor to me for a decade and a half. Dr. Jerry Reeves leads the Medicare Quality Improvement Organization in Nevada and is well known for his development of positive and negative incentives. With Jack London, he leads Health Direct Partners. Dr. Steve Schutzer is an orthopedist who co-founded the Moving to Value Alliance in Connecticut. That organization brings together hundreds of healthcare stakeholders. Dr. Michael Fine started Primary Care for All Americans. Dr. Nick Heinen improves health and reduces cost at Vestra Health. Dr. Kenny Cole does the same thing at The Ochsner Clinic. Jeffrey Hogan is one of the foremost health advisors in the country and co-founder of the Moving to Value Alliance. Chris Deacon is an attorney who is one of the leading authorities on the Consolidated Appropriations Act. Justin Davis is an IT and healthcare revenue cycle expert who uses data to tell you where your problems are and how you can fix them.
Go to the links. Open them and you will see that these mission-driven stakeholders come from all over the country and bring many different skills to the table. There are dozens more like them who should be listed but space and time won’t allow it. You get the idea. The stakeholders are coming together, and that process is advanced.
My last three posts have been an attempt to explain why our extensive efforts to improve health and reduce costs have failed almost universally and—even more importantly—what we can do to begin the journey to better health at lower cost. The post on Friday 5 January 2024 contains the key points. Dr. Steve Schutzer said this in the public comment section on that post.
“One of your best posts, Bill. I know, I've said that before but in all honesty, I cannot envision a more thorough, clearly articulated, complete, data-based treatise on exactly the solution to the healthcare crisis. Period. This absolutely needs to reach the top echelon of our national healthcare policy makers, now. Maybe Scott Connard can help with his new organization. I would just add one little thought, and that is how/where should all these protocols be "housed". Medical Homes didn't work but they could if they were reconfigured into Porter and Teisberg's "integrated practice units" described 17 years ago in "Redefining Healthcare". Let's reinvigorate IPUs. They've worked in Europe for years.”
Dr. Schutzer and I are on the same page precisely. Michael Porter and Elizabeth Teisberg wrote that healthcare needs to be redefined and based on value for patients. They also said that integrated practice units (IPUs) should include all services needed to address a medical condition, usually in dedicated facilities. IPUs are organized around a patient's medical condition over a full cycle of care. They provide a comprehensive range of services delivered by dedicated multidisciplinary teams. That is what we are promoting. Independent, outpatient advanced primary care teams doing most of the work remotely. Dr. Schutzer brings that perspective to orthopedics. Kenny Cole and I do the same thing in heart disease and related conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.
The stakeholders have come together. Now Dr. Schutzer is telling me we have a clearly articulated battle plan for the stakeholders to follow to bring you better health at lower cost and you can all help. Are you satisfied with our healthcare system? I am not. I know that we could have much better care for half the cost! Everyone reading this is a healthcare stakeholder and you can help. No one person and no one stakeholder can get this done. We are all in this together. Every one of you that joins Primary Care for All Americans or the Moving to Value Alliance matters. I am a member of both and I am all in. I may give out, but I will never give up!
Thank you!! We must all be warriors in the fight for regenerative systems of care - it’s truly a daily battle and a personal responsibility for all who care about our fellow man. I’ll be suggesting that we bring “IPU’s” to the Aspirational Health Agility framework, which includes Darrell Moon, Marlin Woods, and Donovan Pyle as special operations forces adamantly supporting and hopefully accelerating the Moving to Value Alliance.
The advocacy is amazing. Those of us in “healthcare” are aware it’s not truly healthcare. There truly is no magical fairy 🧚♀️ to sprinkle fairy dust. We must own our health. But not all of us can as we have to consider the needs of all people. Prevention is key. By addressing health care needs such as dental care, vision, screening, whole health care instead of a for profit system that benefits the heath of the stock rather than patients. We all are patients. Thank you for bringing all of this to light!