Healthcare Industry Accountability
Beckham Company
After having read your article entitled the accountability crisis in healthcare, one may have several observations and suggestions concerning both the content and conclusions contained within. First are the generalizations indicting the healthcare industry, (particularly the not-for-profits), in terms of the alleged fragmentation between the parts that make up the whole; namely, according to your text, physicians, hospitals and insurers. One may also take umbrage at examples you employ to ensure accountability. While they appear on the surface to be worthy of merit, closer examinations reveal weaknesses in areas that may not be evident at first consideration. Finally, it appears that many of the examples cited as support for one point-of-view may support the opposing point-of-view equally as well. Let us examine the text more closely based on these issues.
The major generalizations made in the text are as follows:
Nobody is in control because they (the healthcare providers) operate independently of each other. (the different areas of healthcare provider)
2. Everyone owns just a piece so no one feels responsible to the whole
3. Human beings and communities do not exist as fragments.
Stating that nobody is in control because they operate independently is similar to stating that because the spark plugs operate independently of the carburetor the engine cannot run. One may counter with the opposing argument and assume that because "they" operate independently each is more likely to have distinct control and therefore contribute to the greater overall accountability of the whole. According to Leatherman in her article, Measuring up:...
The task would cripple healthcare providers. Leatherman states, "Improving the performance of healthcare systems is becoming a priority in many countries as a result of economic pressure to optimize health spending ... " This appears to be an important argument to support a view opposite of generalization number 2. Every holder of a piece has a vested stake in being part of the whole and must be involved to insure the value and continuity of the piece he holds.
One may find generalization number 3 too broad to speak too without understanding the context from which it is derived. That context is not explained in the text of your paper, Mr. Beckman, however one may offer that a poor mother on welfare whose child cannot receive a needed prosthetic because the item does not qualify under her plan is not a member of the same community as Mr. CEO, whose health coverage extends into the world of unlikely occurrence.
That said one might move forward to address the examples used to support the above generalizations. They include the following:
1.
The Athens story
2.
The lack of laws and legal requirements concerning Medicare
3.
Beth Israel
4.
Quorum Health
5.
Space and time
In the Athens example, the oath asks that the young men of the city leave the city better than they found…
