Sarah J. Moum, M.D.
Fellow in Neuroradiology at MGH
PGY-6
March 26, 2019
As physicians, what is our vision for the future of healthcare?
Our consensus likely includes more efficient, effective, and equitable
healthcare for all. Is this different from the vision of non-physician
administrators, health insurance leaders, and other businesspersons? At its
core, no; but in its implementation, definitely.
The future of healthcare was the central topic of conversation at
the 2019 Harvard Business School Healthcare Conference, which I attended in
February at the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts. The conference
was an excellent opportunity for me and other attendees to witness leaders from
United Healthcare and other giants within the business of medicine lay out
their plans for increasing the accessibility, efficiency, and personalization
of healthcare.
What I found particularly interesting, and somewhat
disconcerting, was that many of these plans did not include physicians in a
central or decision-making role. Undoubtedly, delivering healthcare efficiently
in the setting of limited resources requires adopting new approaches from other
areas of industry; the future practice of medicine will differ significantly
from how it is currently practiced and how it was practiced in preceding
generations. However, allowing advancing technologies to reduce or remove the
doctor’s role in the interest of efficiency may have negative consequences for
both patients and the system as a whole. Training and tradition have afforded
physicians with a special fund of knowledge and a unique perspective of both
the science and the humanistic side of disease and treatment. Physicians can add
value to evolving healthcare business models.
Attending this conference reminded me that while the practice of
medicine is an art and a science, it is also a business. As a physician, I must
work to help integrate the unique physician perspective into the evolving
business model of healthcare. In turn, physicians, like myself, must embrace
new technologies in daily clinical practice. Moreover, it is critical for our profession
that both seasoned and young physicians alike are involved in conferences, such
as this one, where the ideas about the future of healthcare business are discussed
and developed. Reflecting on my experiences at the 2019 Harvard Business School
Healthcare Conference, I am reminded of the words of an active innovator in
value-based radiology, Samir Patel, MD: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on
the menu.”
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