Photo Credit Tim Lahan

To the Editor:

Re How Health Care Went Wrong (Op-Ed, June 19):

Christy Ford Chapin praises the innovation of prepaid physician group practices as particularly elegant models. She suggests that concierge medicine is their modern-day successor. Not so. No matter the payment structure, fragmented medical practice cannot deliver consistent quality to individual patients and larger populations.

Concierge medicine is not only a step backward, but it is also a move toward an unequal, two-tier system. Ms. Chapin criticizes Kaiser Permanente as different from and lacking the benefits of those earlier elegant models; in fact, Kaiser is the archetype.

Kaiser Permanentes model is often heralded as focused on prevention and delivering the right care at the right time. Incentives are correctly aligned to help patients get and stay healthy, with care and coverage typically more affordable than elsewhere.

Our Permanente physician-led clinical teams constantly innovate to create integrated, person-centered and technology-supported care. The results are clear: Kaiser Permanente is first in more categories of care effectiveness than any other commercial health plan.

EDWARD ELLISON RICHARD S. ISAACS OAKLAND, CALIF.

Dr. Ellison is executive medical director of the Southern California Permanente Medical Group. Dr. Isaacs is chief executive and executive director of the Permanente Medical Group.

Read the original:

Kaiser Permanente's Archetype for Health Care - New York Times