Shortly after publishing Market vs. Medicine: America’s Epic Fight for Better, Affordable Healthcare in June 2016, I met with my former investment banking colleague, Jullia Quazi. Jullia arrived with a very funny story regarding her precocious and freaky-smart 6-year-old son Kairan.

As Jullia was leaving home, Kairan asked her to ask me who won. When Jullia asked what he meant, Kairan responded, “Dave wrote Market vs. Medicine. Who won, “Market” or “Medicine?” Out of the mouths of babes…

Part I of Superhero Healthcare identified several bright spots within American healthcare where liberated caregivers deliver appropriate, efficient care to engaged patients; where the interests of health companies and their customers align; and where compassion, empathy and shared decision-making govern medical treatment.
 

Most weekends in America, long lines form outside cineplexes as ardent fans of DC and Marvel Comics catch the latest iterations on the big screen. Since the dawn of motion pictures, Americans love to see superheroes come to the rescue – just in time.
 

On March 22, 2018, Mission Health in Asheville, North Carolina announced its intention to sell its seven-hospital not-for-profit (NFP) health system to HCA Healthcare, the nation’s largest for-profit healthcare system. The parties expect to sign definitive sale agreements by mid-summer and finalize the transaction by year-end. [1]

Goodbye “Dr. Know-It-All”: Medicine’s Liberating Knowledge Explosion

The digitization and globalization of medical information is overwhelming traditional medical practices. Physicians confront a continuous avalanche of medical discoveries on disease origins, symptoms and treatments. By 2020, medical knowledge will double every 73 days.[1]

In 1970, Marcus Welby, MD became ABC Television’s first show to top network television ratings. Dr. Welby was a cheerful family practice physician with a soothing bedside manner who was on a first-name basis with his patients. In the toughest cases, Welby focused on his patients’ clinical, social and even spiritual needs. In turn, patients trusted Welby, embraced his care and got better.

Quad/Graphics, the American printing company, was founded near Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1971 by a husband and wife team. Harry and Betty Quadracci saw advantages in a family approach to doing business coupled with a long-term outlook and a willingness to innovate. Today, Quad/Graphics is a $4B company with facilities all over the US and around the world.

The news that Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JP Morgan Chase joined forces to create their own healthcare company rocked the industry. The ten largest health insurers and pharmacy businesses lost $30B in market value in two hours.[1]

Heavy rain drenched San Francisco the first day of JP Morgan’s 36th Annual Healthcare Conference. Many reported seeing Noah building an ark in Union Square. The “big ship” metaphor carried into the conference. Healthcare giants across all sectors are scaling up to withstand transformational pressures while driving toward better outcomes, lower costs and more consumerism.

In the mid-1800s, English philosopher and political economist John Stuart Mill developed “Utilitarianism,” a framework for making moral decisions. In Mill’s formulation, an action achieves optimal social utility when it advances the well-being of the most people, i.e. “the greatest good for the greatest number.”