As expected, healthcare reform appears to be stumbling over money — i.e., how to raise enough in taxes or cut enough in costs to pay for reform. Now might be a good time to think back to paragraph 81 of Atul Gawande’s piece in The New Yorker on healthcare cost and quality variation (see prior post), in which he highlights how Mayo Clinic keeps costs down while still delivering high-quality care.
“Decades ago Mayo recognized that the first thing it needed to do was eliminate the financial barriers. It pooled all the money the doctors and the hospital system received and began paying everyone a salary, so that the doctors’ goal in patient care couldn’t be increasing their income. Mayo promoted leaders who focused first on what was best for patients, and then on how to make this financially possible.”
(Hat tip: Stateofthedivision)
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