To fix the problem you need to understand the problem, not shoot the messenger
The American Medical System for all it's newsworthy problems is capable of technological marvels the world has never before seen, or at least remembers.
While this is a a slight to the rest of the world, as I am sure innovation occurs worldwide, I say this to insure the reader that I am oth a fan and a critic.
The recent murder of United HealthCare Executive Brian Thompson caused quite a stqrtling reaction, expressed relief that "FInally something had been done to get BIg Insurances ttention."*
This is a sad commentary where anyone celebrates the cold blooded murder of another human being.
And while I understand the strong feelings people feel about health insurance, because of all the stories about Greedy Insurance Companies and Heartless Insurance Compnay CEOs.
I think we need to step back and realize that some of that is narative entertainent, where stories that make you mad get more clicks, and thus generate more revenue, so their are more of them, and they may not all be true.
I look at this situation and I would be willing to bet a few hundred HIve that Brian thompson never personally denied a healthcare claim. And in fact when you look at the structure of how an insurance company works claims denials and approvals are so many levels below him that he probably would recognize a healthcare claim if it was siting on his desk next to his coffee.
An important thing to remember about compnay executives is they are always hired based on their expertise with the product, but. with business prionciples which businesses have in common not their differences. In fact one of the cjief issues with business executives is that the story of a guy or gal who started out on the ground floor of a company and worked their way to the top is a great story, but a rare one. Most people leading orgamnizations know very little about their prodict, but they do know about marketing, advertising, raising money for compnay expansions, mergers, buyouts and acquisitions.
If the truth be told, Brian Thompson is probably not truly worthy of the animus the young man had for him, because he may have never did anything regarding decisions about whether to approve his surgery or not...
I know this may be a shock to some but many companies are run by people who know very little about the companies actual product except by name, brand, maret share, advertising budget and where they get the best deal on advertsing, marketing, raw supplies or technical expertise.
In order to find out who is doing the day to day work and who understands the compnaies product best, you have to start somehwere customer facing, look at their polcies and procedures and work backwards until you get to someone who actually has the power and the ability to write policies and proceedures, this is where the rubber meets the road in terms of denying care like medicines and surgeries. This is where the evil or good lies.
And this is the place where courts, lawyers and detectives look when they are tryong to figure out why someones care was delayed and they died or sufferred harm.
And this is where you fix things in an organization; The policy and procedure level.
I call this these things: policies and procedures employee Marching Order. I think these policies and procedures determne what actions workers take and explains the decisions workers make. So this is where we woul;d look to find out why this young mans surgery was declined or denied.
But even this is just one part of a huge system.
Insurance companies are merely middleman, who occupy a space betwwen Employers, Employees and their doctors and hospital. Employers give the insurance cmpany money, and the insurance company has to figure out how to use this limited pot of money to pay for the all the healthcare expenses for the year for all the emplyees and anyone else from anywhere else in the insurances companies customer catchment area.
Insurance Companies are just one component of a multi-part puzzle, and blaming them for all that's wrong with the medical system is in fact irrational from a problem solving perspective. imagine only looking at one tire to figure out why the ride on your car is to rough. There are four tires and a suspension system, and each part of them could be the source of your rough ride. So shooting one of the tires not only doesn't fix the problem if that was a good tire, but now you increase the likelihood that your left with a bad tire.
Brian Thompson probably was not the person to deny this young mans claim, so like your car with four tire. shooting one of them doesn't fix the ride. It just leaves you with three tires and a new reason for the ride to be rough.
Improving American Medical Care starts with understanding the probl...
