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Blog on Medicare, Medicaid, pharma, biotech, health reform, and more. Insights and resources on hot issues. Kip Piper, editor.
Kip Piper, MA, FACHE
Health care strategist, speaker, and writer. Expert on Medicare, Medicaid, and pharma, biotech, and device industries. President, Health Results Group LLC. Senior Counselor, Fleishman-Hillard. Senior Consultant, Sellers Dorsey. Visit KipPiper.com. Or email Kip here.
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Will Wal-Mart Compete with Clinics or Hospitals?
posted: September 24, 2004

Doctor with Toddler.jpgIn an excellent new piece for HealthLeaders, E. Preston Gee asks an fascinating question with wide ranging implications for health care: “What if the mass merchandising giants like Wal-Mart or Target got into the healthcare delivery business in a big way?”


Highly efficient, consumer friendly, and tech-savvy companies like Wal-Mart and Target stand in sharp contrast to health care delivery. Many health strategists, including myself, have noodled on what it would take for hospitals and clinics to adopt consumer-focused, competitor-savvy practices of high performing industries like these “big box” retailers.


As Mr. Gee notes, the big retailers may never enter health care but that is beside the point. Health care providers must adapt to the new market realities. Employers and other demand-side players expect an end to the inefficiency, poor quality, and high error rates that plague much of health care delivery. After providing thoughtful advice on how they can adapt, Mr. Gee calls on health care executives to “lead their organizations into and through this new era of heightened expectations and emerging market-driven dynamics.”


Preston Gee has written widely on market-driven, consumer-oriented strategies in health care. His latest book is Service Line Success: Eight Essential Rules. It shows how provider execs can apply the principles of service line management to meet tough market challenges. Service line / product line management is proven and often profitable in other sectors but rare in health care.

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Consider This
In ancient China, physicians were paid only when their patients were kept well and often not paid if the patient got sick. If a patient died, a special lantern was hung outside the doctor's house. Upon each death, another lantern was added. This is the first known use of the two most powerful drivers for health care performance - incentives and transparency.
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Profile of Kip Piper, MA, FACHE

Healthcare Consultant
President of Health Results Group LLC. Senior counselor with Fleishman-Hillard, the top public relations and communications consultancy. Senior consultant with Sellers Dorsey, influential Medicaid and health reform consultancy. Senior counselor, TogoRun, leading advisors in health care public affairs.

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Leading authority on Medicare, Medicaid, and health reform. Specialist in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device, and health plan industry issues. Policy, finance, coverage, reimbursement, health and drug benefits, marketing, business development, innovation, and public affairs.

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Advised Fortune 100 companies, pharma and biotech firms, medical device firms, top federal officials, governors, members of Congress, foundations, and foreign leaders. Skilled, creative business and policy strategist and problem solver.

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Popular speaker at health industry conferences. Topics include Medicare, pharma business issues, Medicaid reform, coverage and reimbursement, and health innovation. Keynotes, seminars, and briefings.

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Testified before Congressional committees, negotiated major legislation, led groundbreaking programs, and designed and implemented numerous health innovations.

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Editor of the Piper Report, a leading health care blog with thousands of regular readers. Medicare, Medicaid, pharma, biotech, and more. News, advice, solutions, and resources.

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Upcoming books include Medicare and Medicaid from A to Z and MediStrategy: Medicare and Medicaid Business Strategies.

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Business and policy editor of American Health & Drug Benefits, peer reviewed journal for decision makers in health plans, drug plans, PBMs, CMS, states, and large employers, with circulation of 30,000.

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