By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    improving patient experience
    6 Ways to Improve Patient Satisfaction Within Hospitals
    December 1, 2021
    degree for healthcare job
    What Are The Health Benefits Of Having A Degree?
    March 9, 2022
    custom software development is changing healthcare
    Digital Customer Journey Mapping and its Importance for Healthcare
    July 21, 2022
    Latest News
    Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
    May 16, 2025
    Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
    May 16, 2025
    Choosing the Right Supplement Manufacturer for Your Brand
    May 1, 2025
    Engineering Temporary Hospitals for Extreme Weather
    April 24, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Can Thinking Younger Make You Live Longer?
    April 20, 2011
    Image
    Obesity’s Outlook Unchanged
    June 13, 2011
    When It’s An Emergency Elderly Not Treated As Well in Hospitals
    July 16, 2011
    Latest News
    Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
    May 18, 2025
    The Critical Role of Healthcare in Personal Injury Recovery: A Comprehensive Guide for Victims
    May 14, 2025
    The Backbone of Successful Trials: Clinical Data Management
    April 28, 2025
    Advancing Your Healthcare Career through Education and Specialization
    April 16, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: Healthcare Reform: The Real Elephant in the Room
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > Healthcare Reform: The Real Elephant in the Room
Health Reform

Healthcare Reform: The Real Elephant in the Room

cohn_jeff
Last updated: July 10, 2013 8:00 am
cohn_jeff
Share
6 Min Read
healthcare reform
SHARE

healthcare reformMany of us recall from childhood the Indian tale “The Blind Men and the Elephant.”  In the story a number of blind men come upon an elephant.  Having never encountered one before, each reaches out to feel the animal, looking to understand what an elephant is.  Each grasps a different part and begins to describe it to his compatriots.  One states, “The elephant is very much like a hose” aft

healthcare reformMany of us recall from childhood the Indian tale “The Blind Men and the Elephant.”  In the story a number of blind men come upon an elephant.  Having never encountered one before, each reaches out to feel the animal, looking to understand what an elephant is.  Each grasps a different part and begins to describe it to his compatriots.  One states, “The elephant is very much like a hose” after grabbing the trunk.  Another says, “Nonsense, it’s like a sharp spear” while holding the tusk., and so on for each body part.  As they shared their impressions they realized that they were all saying something different and this led to an argument.  None could “see” that there was any merit to what the others were saying, so sure were they that their perspective was the correct one.  And the storyteller concludes, “All of them were correct, and all of them were wrong.”

Complex systems embrace diversity.  Think of the metaphor of a long mountain range like the Appalachians.  Finding a solution to a problem can be thought of like climbing to the top of a peak.  The particular mountain you’re on reflects how high anyone with your perspectives can go, with the idea that the higher the better.  Novices can only make it part of the way to the top.  Adding experts may give you a better chance to get to the top of the peak you’re on.  Once you’re at the top of that peak, however, you can’t go any higher.  What if you happen to notice that there are other mountains whose peaks are even higher than the one you’re on?  They represent the value of other perspectives.  The only way to get to the top of those mountains is to change your perspectives to theirs.  Or, even better, join them to yours.  If your solution represents the entire mountain range, you can be assured that you’ve got the highest peak in there somewhere.  You’ll have to measure, experiment, and explore to figure out which is the best, and that may actually change over time as well.  But the diversity of perspectives gives you the confidence that you will eventually find what works best for you.  As author Arin N. Reeves puts it in her book The Next IQ, “many heads are inevitably better than one.”

I believe that the current debates about healthcare reform represent a modern version of the elephant fable.  Various groups of stakeholders have banded together to come up with their “solution” to the problems the current US healthcare model has created.  We spend too much, our outcomes are not good enough, and too many people are harmed.  As solutions are presented, not only are the stakeholders convinced of their merit, they are also certain that counterproposals are wrong.  Accountable Care Organizations.  Bundled payments.  Health information technology.  Consumerism.  Price transparency.  Single payer.  Keep the status quo.  One can find groups of smart people advocating for all of these.  

More Read

Mental Health Cost Cuts Strain Law Enforcement
Factors Influencing ACO Expansion
Remote Heath: The Wave of our Medical Future
Will Accountable Care Be a Game Changer?
Health Policy: Stunning Results from California

I think the problem is not that any of these proposals are right or wrong.  I think the problem is that perspectives that are not diverse enough generate them.  All of them, like the blind men in the fable, are “right”- from their perspectives what they are proposing makes total sense.  However, the lack of diversity involved in reaching the solution means that there are huge blind spots that cannot be overcome.  A group of brilliant people with similar perspectives, interpretations, heuristics, and predictive models cannot be as intelligent as a group made up of average folks with cognitive diversity.  At least not for complex challenges.  And I think there is at least one thing everyone who has a stake in this agrees on, and that is that healthcare and its reform is complex. 

What we need is the collective wisdom to recognize that all of these perspectives are right, and all are limited.  Wikipedia lists the moral of the fable as “due to extreme delusion produced on account of a partial viewpoint, the immature deny one aspect and try to establish another…it is impossible to properly understand an entity consisting of infinite properties without the method of modal description consisting of all viewpoints.”  Diverse perspectives and multiple right answers, or choosing “the one best” – what do you prefer?

(Healthcare: whose perspective is right? / shutterstock)

Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

Clinical Expertise
Building Smarter Care Teams: Aligning Roles, Structure, and Clinical Expertise
Health care
May 18, 2025
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Grounded Healing: A Natural Ally for Sustainable Healthcare Systems
Health
May 15, 2025
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Learn how to Renew your Medical Card in West Virginia
Health
May 15, 2025
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction heart treatment
Dr. Klaus Rentrop Shares Acute Myocardial Infarction
Cardiology
May 13, 2025

You Might also Like

HIPAA Basics For Licensed Health Care Professionals: Privacy, Security, and Breach Notification Rules

November 16, 2015

Facts and Figures vs. The “Frivolous Medical Malpractice” Narrative

April 29, 2016
patient communities
BusinessDiagnosticseHealthHealth ReformHome HealthHospital AdministrationMedical DevicesMedical EducationMedical InnovationsMedical RecordsMobile HealthNewsPolicy & LawPublic HealthSocial MediaTechnologyWellness

Top Digital Health Innovations That Will Transform Healthcare

September 24, 2013

John Wooden’s Spirit Alive and Well at MedStar Health

April 13, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?