A new healthcare company, with the potential to disrupt the American healthcare system, just got one step closer to realizing its goal.
Healthcare isn’t a field that can be easily modified. Major companies, among them Walmart, have tried but haven’t been successful.1 But when you throw game-changers into the equation, it’s a different story.
In January, Berkshire Hathaway, Amazon and J.P. Morgan Chase announced their intention of creating a company, “free from profit-making incentives and constraints,” to provide their employees with more options and lower costs. On Wednesday, they named a CEO – Dr. Atul Gawande.
Dr. Gawande is scheduled to start his new venture on July 9 at the headquarters of the new healthcare company in Boston.
Time will tell if this venture will be different than past failures. Warren Buffett, chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, put it this way: “The resistance will be unbelievable, and if we fail, at least we tried.”
This trying, however, is anything but passive.
Dr. Atul Gawande
While leading a company of such proportions is a major feat, Dr. Atul Gawande comes well prepared. His impressive list of experience and accomplishments include practicing as a general and endocrine surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. He is also a professor at Harvard Business School and Harvard T.H. Chan School of public health.
When is isn’t practicing surgery or professing, he works as a writer. To date, he has written 4 New York Times bestsellers. And he is a staff writer at The New Yorker.
Oh, and he also founded a health systems innovation center called Ariadne Labs.
“This work will take time but must be done,” says Gawande. “The system is broken, and better is possible.”
Implications for the Broader Public
Although the initial plan is to benefit their employees, the visionaries have their eyes set on the entire healthcare system. And they don’t just want to bring down drug costs. Their focus is on changing the entire system. Hiring Dr. Gawande seems to be an indication of this.2
As an assisted living community with a goal to “provide every community member with the nursing care and services that they need to enjoy a healthy, productive, and worry-free lifestyle,” Wellington Estates is excited about the possibilities this venture holds for the care, services and costs for our residents.
What’s your opinion of the new healthcare company initiative?
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Disclaimer, or Use At Your Own Risk
Wellington Estates does not take any responsibility for this posts content. Any action you take based on its information is strictly at your own risk. You should always speak to your doctor regarding medical information and your health.
1 https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/07/buffett-dimon-and-bezos-to-name-health-care-ceo-within-two-weeks.html
2 https://www.reuters.com/article/us-berkshire-buffett-healthcare/amazon-berkshire-jpmorgan-name-atul-gawande-ceo-of-healthcare-venture-idUSKBN1JG1WZ