Camelot , Nazi’s , Truth, Love, and God

Camelot, Nazi’s, Truth, Love, and God

Todd Gifford, MBA

Ask not what Medicare can do for you but what you can do for Medicare.

We find ourselves frozen; unable to move because we are overwhelmed by the sheer size of the tsunami of health Care Chaos headed our way.

We know the system can’t maintain the sins of our past.

If we continue on our current path, the system will be bust by 2024.

I was born March 16th 1968, the moon was blood red and this happens to be the exact same date that the Mei Lai Massacre occurred in Vietnam. One of the darkest chapters in American Military history .

Robert Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King were both targets of an assassin’s bullet in 1968

For those of us that enjoy history, I harken you back to the time of JFK’s inauguration when the nation was filled with optimism. After Kennedy had played hardball with the Russians and Castro during the Cuban missile crisis and his strategy proved correct, we were not a Nation to be toyed with.

I reference Kennedy’s inauguration speech because we have stared the enemy in the eye in relation to Health Care’s cost and he is us.

We all share a responsibility to act as a solution as opposed to the problem.

The Provider’s role in our ongoing saga cannot be discounted, we know that if the physician is not engaged we have an almost impossible obstacle to overcome.

The supporting staff that surrounds the doctor has just an important role to play, often the staff has more face time with the patient than the provider and we must up train our staffs to take on more responsibilities toward the delivery of more efficient care.

The insurers have to create innovation and pricing that allows freedom for the physicians to deliver care and not create burden and hardship for the doctor/patient relationship.

Prevention is the cure and education is the key. We must facilitate the transition to patient centered care which lies ahead and the only way we can successfully do this is with a more engaged patient that is taking greater responsibility for their own care. While we ask doctors to perform miracles, some folks are just simply non-compliant and we have to find a solution to keep closer contact with the members with poly morbidities.

Disruptive innovations with technology will allow us a closer touch within the system to provide better care to the difficult members that have an inability to get to the doctor’s office.

I work for an MSO that has long known the value of providing transportation to our members , whether they need to go to the pharmacy, or go see a specialist or whatever medical need may arise we know that if we have a transportation in place for our members ,compliant patients consistently fare better and the cost of their ultimate care is far less expensive and I contend a much happier member that is satisfied with outcomes far better than those that basically access care through the A and E or ED and do not enjoy a regular relationship with the Primary Care Physicians.

Wellness habits have to be instilled in patients, they simply must adhere to a program of moderation.

Exercise, Diet, No tobacco and little if any alcohol.

While we can remind the member of their responsibility to adhere to regimens set, we cannot force people do what they do not want to do, but a stronger effort must be made and to create a healthier patient. We need a paradigm shift of focus toward prevention rather than maintence.

I spent two and a half year in London, England running a startup whose goal was to introduce Managed Care to the National Health System and revolutionize the way a Nation delivers care to it’s citizens.

The current business model in the U.K. is one in which the physician works within his four walls and waits on the patient to present with whatever malady they be suffering from and he or she treats patients accordingly , No one is getting reminder calls to come for their A1C checks in London. Outreach does not exist in the NHS.

Our current leadership is struggling with the implementation of ACA/Obamacare, and while I could not agree more that change is needed, I question the present strategy of seeking whistle blowers to find fraud, waste, and abuse. The teller of tales will be compensated to expose malfeasance, while I agree we must collectively find an answer. I struggle with the creation of an environment where accusations can create an unsubstantiated claim against the innoocent. We need not create a Nazi state, where one neighbor who has been insulted, real or not, can retaliate to cause problems and the hope of getting 10 to 25% of monies recovered.