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
    healthcare cybersecurity
    4 Helpful Tips on How to Protect Your Medical Practice Against Cyber Attacks
    October 24, 2021
    Health Check Diagnosis Medical Condition Analysis Concept
    6 Health Woes With Online Remedies
    January 19, 2022
    Eight Things Men Should Know About the Male Menopause
    Eight Things Men Should Know About the Male Menopause
    April 24, 2022
    Latest News
    Beyond Nutrition: Everyday Foods That Support Whole-Body Health
    June 15, 2025
    The Wide-Ranging Benefits of Magnesium Supplements
    June 11, 2025
    The Best Home Remedies for Migraines
    June 5, 2025
    The Hidden Impact Of Stress On Your Body’s Alignment And Balance
    May 22, 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
    How to Start an Adult Discussion on Medicare
    May 26, 2011
    Health Care Reform and Other Health Care Innovations – Regina Herzlinger Speaks From Harvard
    July 7, 2011
    IPAB: Fix It, Don’t Repeal It
    August 9, 2011
    Latest News
    Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
    June 25, 2025
    When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
    June 20, 2025
    Preventing Contamination In Healthcare Facilities Starts With Hygiene
    June 15, 2025
    Strengthening Healthcare Systems Through Clinical and Administrative Career Development
    June 13, 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

Solutions for Government IT Projects
Breaking Bad Healthcare: The Story of Healthcare.gov
How Much Do You Want to Pay for Medical Care?
Connected Health, Reimbursement, and the Law of Unintended Consequences
ObamaCare Gets Health Plans Focused on Cost
Time for some healthcare New Year’s resolutions

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

women dental care
What Is a Smile Makeover and How Much Does It Cost?
Dental health
June 30, 2025
HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps
Top HIPAA-Compliant Messaging Apps for Healthcare Teams
Global Healthcare Policy & Law Technology
June 25, 2025
recovering from injury
Rebuilding After Injury: Path to Physical and Emotional Recovery
News
June 22, 2025
scientist using microscope
When Healthcare Ends, the Legal Process Begins: What Families Should Know About Probate and Medical Estates
Global Healthcare
June 18, 2025

You Might also Like

Like I said: United’s ACA exchange departure is no big deal

January 29, 2016

Will There Be Health Benefits Exchanges by 2014?

June 2, 2011

New Mesothelioma Treatment Approved: Here’s What To Know About It

September 14, 2019
BusinessFinanceHealth ReformHospital AdministrationPolicy & Law

Unless You Are The Lead Dog on the Sled, The Scenery Never Changes

January 14, 2014
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?