Dr. Ken Coburn
CEO, Health Quality Partners
I was a second-year medical school student when I encountered my first patient with GRID — gay-related immune deficiency. The year was 1982, and the disease that would soon be called AIDS was an epidemic still in its infancy. With his skin shedding in sheets, the man was dying in an isolation room. Alone.
Though we didn’t quite know what to do at the time, we knew that our systems were failing him — our medical system, with so few options for treatment; our social system, stricken with fear toward those affected by the disease; and our political system, reluctant to address both the stigma directed toward people with the disease and the urgent need for investment in research on it.
....
Widespread disparities in access to care persist, and the number of people with complex needs and vulnerabilities, including chronically ill older adults, is on the rise. The trillions of dollars flowing through the health care market are fueling a kind of “build what sells” ecosystem that drives revenue generation regardless of the overall health of the American people.
To read the full article click here: STAT
Though we didn’t quite know what to do at the time, we knew that our systems were failing him — our medical system, with so few options for treatment; our social system, stricken with fear toward those affected by the disease; and our political system, reluctant to address both the stigma directed toward people with the disease and the urgent need for investment in research on it.
....
Widespread disparities in access to care persist, and the number of people with complex needs and vulnerabilities, including chronically ill older adults, is on the rise. The trillions of dollars flowing through the health care market are fueling a kind of “build what sells” ecosystem that drives revenue generation regardless of the overall health of the American people.
To read the full article click here: STAT