Nation’s Most Experienced Health Care Manufacturing CEO Says Current Reform Legislation Is Misguided and Will Not Work
An alternative approach to reforming America’s ailing health care system from Bill Cook, founder of the world’s largest, privately owned medical device manufacturing company, calls for a focus on improved patient outcomes through preventive care using a new, national system of local medical clinics.
“What I am proposing is a simple solution to our legislators and citizens who have had difficulty defining and understanding what the real problem is when trying to provide affordable, universal health care insurance,” Cook explains.
In a blog posted today on the Cook Medical website, http://healthcareaccess.cookmedical.com, Cook says, “Congress must recognize that the most serious flaw in present health care is caused by difficult access to the (health care) system,” adding that “easy access to the health care system is the key to successful medical legislation.”
Cook, whose worldwide group of companies employs 9,500 people and operates its own self-funded health clinic for nearly 5,000 employees and dependents at its Bloomington, Indiana, global headquarters, calls for the development of low-cost or free primary care clinics “that are plentiful and spread throughout cities, towns and the countryside.” Such clinics, he argues, would allow early diagnosis of conditions such as cancer and diabetes that can be treated with far less expense if caught early.
“Properly treated,” he insists, “many illnesses respond without the need for hospitalization and expensive lifesaving diagnostic and surgical interventions.”
To staff the clinics, he calls for the education of a new generation of physicians, technicians, physician assistants, nurses and nurse assistants to serve and treat the approximately 12-20 million uninsured or underinsured patients in America today. Other innovative medical service delivery programs, such as the privately funded Volunteers in Medicine (www.volunteersinmedicine.org) could also be expanded nationally to provide free health care to those in need.
Patients requiring more advanced treatment would be routed to community-based hospitals, and for those with the most severe illnesses, to a regional system of world-class clinics based on the business models created by centers of medical excellence such as the Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic and Kaiser-Permanente.
Significant further savings could be created by enacting a national monetary cap on medical liability claims, reforming medical tort law, and allowing medical insurance providers to sell across state lines, thus creating incentives for greater competition and cost reductions, he argues.
About Cook Medical
Founded in 1963, Cook Medical pioneered many of the medical devices now commonly used to perform minimally invasive medical procedures throughout the body. Today, the company integrates medical devices, drugs and biologics to enhance patient safety and improve clinical outcomes. Since its inception,Cook has operated as a family-held private corporation. For more information, visit www.cookmedical.com <http://www.cookmedical.com/>. Follow Cook Medical on Twitter at twitter.com/cookmedicalpr.
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cwatras@racepointgroup.com