ENTER THE BULLRING OF HEALTH REFORM
by Mike Manes
“The doctor of the future will give no medication, but will interest his patients in the care of the human frame, diet, and in the cause and prevention of disease.'
-- Thomas A. Edison
I agree.
I believe the benefits broker of the future will bring innovation to the market or be absent from it. Brokers won’t be paid commissions or fees, but will receive a share of the efficiencies created or the efficacy of results delivered. Think contingency bonuses.
One broker a few weeks ago acknowledged that healthcare reform will reduce his commissions. He said that he wasn’t shrinking his infrastructure in anticipation of this change in revenue stream.
“I’ll just add a fee,” was his solution.
He doesn’t understand that healthcare reform is being driven by folks who are unwilling or unable to pay more. If brokers are to be relevant in the future, they must “innovate process” to come in under the price that the market is willing to pay.
However, most brokers are naïve about their future and are “blinded” (or delusional) as to the value they bring to the new system.
Our current healthcare systems are bankrupt – -ripe with waste, fraud and inefficiency. The good news is that there is more than enough money in the current system to address all our needs. We are 308 million Americans whose minds, bodies, and spirits are aspiring toward “wellness,” yet our healthcare system is built nearly exclusively for “body” and “illness.” If you don’t believe me, review the Injuries Diagnosis (ICD 9) codes.
Despite epidemic levels of stress and obesity, few doctors are prepared to teach us what to “eat” or treat the stress that “eats us.” Taxpayers and the chronically well are paying more than they can afford and the chronically ill are consuming far more than they contribute. Generation Xers and Millennials will soon rebel over the cost of caring for Boomers and the Greatest Generation.
The hope for our future and the secret to our success and prosperity lies in true innovation. (No, casual Friday isn’t innovation.) Nearly five centuries ago, Machiavelli explained the difficulty of implementing change.
“There is no more delicate a matter to take in hand, nor more dangerous to conduct, nor more doubtful to success, than to step up as a leader in the introduction of changes. For he who innovates will have for his enemies all those well off under the existing order of things, and only lukewarm supporters in those who might be better off under the new.” (The Prince: Chapter 6)
In spite of the incessant complaining about healthcare, most current stakeholders (patients, providers, carriers and brokers) have been “well off under the existing order of things,” so we can’t expect them to be great innovators.
JFK was the innovator; Neil Armstrong was his change agent.
Here are some are examples of “small steps” being taken by some friends. They work, and this is just the beginning. To survive in the future, we’ll need “giant steps for mankind.” Before you say “no way,” remember we’ve already walked on the moon.
- Dale Dauten has packaged the process of innovation readiness for organizations. He believes that despite an unlimited supply of new ideas, there’s a limited demand for implementing ideas that require individuals to change. Dale reminds us that “different isn’t always better, but better is always different.”
- Peter Ranzino unleashes the power of distance learning to ensure that the process of change and innovation can be delivered to any audience, ensure (and measure) their involvement, and monitor results to determine when their commitment becomes the rule, not the exception.
- Jane Cooper provides advocacy service for patients that use healthcare and employers and employees who fund the care. This ensures efficiency and efficacy when consumers maneuver around the “landmines” of healthcare and its financing. Information on cost and quality (outcomes) on selected medical procedures is also provided to facilitate decision making. The range of cost for the same medical procedure in one area was between $4,000 and $14,000.
- Tommy Canterbury has moved past education and awareness of more active lifestyle to deliver proven, fun and healthy programs and oversight to groups, schools and communities.
- Dr. Larry Hollier, chancellor at Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center, understands the shortage of physicians and the importance of easy access to primary care. His telemedicine model allows doctors in New Orleans to work through the caring touch of a nurse practitioner in a community clinic in Anywhere, Louisiana. It’s better to bring care to the people than people to care.
- Dr. David Schleich and his fellow Naturopathic physicians (NDs) throughout the nation are having a real impact on the health and wellness of the populations they serve. NDs possess nutritional training and behavioral modification expertise that can have incredible impact. This holds especially true in communities overridden by obesity, sedentary lifestyle, diabetic, and addicted patients.
- Joseph Lockwood is a community leader in the early stages of aligning the appropriate parties to transition his community from a reactive population with unmet healthcare needs, limited funding, and poor outcomes into a proactive healthy community that will have a wellness center, which will address the mind, body and spirit of each resident.
Risk & Insurance® is not endorsing these organizations and programs; we’re providing them as an example of simple innovations that are working, and to encourage benefits brokers to innovate their operations and offerings to reduce costs and enhance outcomes.
“It’s not the same to talk of bulls as to be in the bullring,” according to an old Spanish axiom.
To paraphrase that, I’d suggest we quit talking “bull” about healthcare reform and get in the bullring to reform it!
Michael G. Manes can be reached at Square One Consulting, 625 Weeks Street, New Iberia, LA 70560; (Cell) 337-577-3885; e-mail: [email protected]; Web Site: www.squareoneconsulting.com. Reproduced, with permission, from Michael Manes “Brokerage” column on Riskandnsurance.com (http://www.riskandinsurancecom).