Tuesday, July 11, 2006
Whipkey on Ellwood
The posting On Gratification drew the following comments from Neil Whipkey, Administrator of Sands at Lake Shore Hospital in Lake City, Florida:
…………………………….
Your piece on Paul Ellwood and his comments was both powerful and interesting. Mr. Ellwood is somewhere up on the mountain top with the other gurus. I happen to toil down on the lower slopes. Regardless, there was much I liked but also some information that I question.
First: "....unaffordable, unaccountable, and inconsistent healthcare." I'll give Mr. Ellwood credit for two and a half out of three. For those who are the "haves" in this country the "unaffordable" part of healthcare is a non-issue. With regard to unaccountable and inconsistent he hit those nails squarely on the head.
"....if they're not doing the right thing, they shouldn't be getting paid." Bingo! What other line of work is so well rewarded for such less than stellar results? It is shameful. I hope Mr. Ellwood can come up with an answer. After over 25 years in healthcare I confess to knowing too much. The thought of going to a hospital, any hospital, is scary.
"....unless the parents of the next health policy give birth to a healthcare system made up of fully integrated groups....accountable..." Wow, too far up the mountain top for me. Parents? Give birth? Integrated groups? Who are the parents? What is going to be birthed? Who are the integrated groups and who are they accountable to?
"Instead we learned from HMOs that the U.S. needs a permanent entity that can follow and subtly gauge and influence the ability of a less fragmented healthcare system to cost-effectively produce health." That is the magic bullet that will significantly revamp and improve our current dysfunctional system. I want to officially volunteer my services to be one of the charter members of the "permanent entity."
Any other volunteers?
The posting On Gratification drew the following comments from Neil Whipkey, Administrator of Sands at Lake Shore Hospital in Lake City, Florida:
…………………………….
Your piece on Paul Ellwood and his comments was both powerful and interesting. Mr. Ellwood is somewhere up on the mountain top with the other gurus. I happen to toil down on the lower slopes. Regardless, there was much I liked but also some information that I question.
First: "....unaffordable, unaccountable, and inconsistent healthcare." I'll give Mr. Ellwood credit for two and a half out of three. For those who are the "haves" in this country the "unaffordable" part of healthcare is a non-issue. With regard to unaccountable and inconsistent he hit those nails squarely on the head.
"....if they're not doing the right thing, they shouldn't be getting paid." Bingo! What other line of work is so well rewarded for such less than stellar results? It is shameful. I hope Mr. Ellwood can come up with an answer. After over 25 years in healthcare I confess to knowing too much. The thought of going to a hospital, any hospital, is scary.
"....unless the parents of the next health policy give birth to a healthcare system made up of fully integrated groups....accountable..." Wow, too far up the mountain top for me. Parents? Give birth? Integrated groups? Who are the parents? What is going to be birthed? Who are the integrated groups and who are they accountable to?
"Instead we learned from HMOs that the U.S. needs a permanent entity that can follow and subtly gauge and influence the ability of a less fragmented healthcare system to cost-effectively produce health." That is the magic bullet that will significantly revamp and improve our current dysfunctional system. I want to officially volunteer my services to be one of the charter members of the "permanent entity."
Any other volunteers?
