Paul M. Ellwood, Jr.
| Paul M. Ellwood, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born |
July 16, 1926 San Francisco, California |
| Known for | Creator of HMOs |
| Medical career | |
| Specialism | pediatric neurologist |
Paul M. Ellwood, Jr. (born 16 July 1926) is a prominent figure in American health care. Often referred to as the "father of the health maintenance organization," he not only coined the term, he also played a role in bringing about structural changes to the American health care system to simultaneously control cost and promote health by replacing fee-for-service with prepaid, comprehensive care. The term "HMO" was coined by Dr. Paul M. Ellwood, Jr., in a January 1970 Fortune Magazine article. More recently, he has advanced an agenda for monitoring health outcomes, so that patients, providers, and payers can make health care decisions based on real information about what treatments and providers are actually effective.
Ellwood began his career as a pediatric neurologist, specializing in polio at the height of the international polio epidemic in the early 1950s. The epidemic subsided with the introduction of the polio vaccine by Jonas Salk. The Sister Kenny Institute, which Ellwood directed, then filled its vacant beds with children suffering from learning disabilities. According to Ellwood, one evening while doing rounds amid crying children, it struck him that they were making decisions for economic reasons (the need to fill hospital beds) that were not in the best interests of patients. His growing conviction that this calculus – putting the interests of health care providers over patient well-being – characterized the American medical system in general, led him to conceive of and advocate for alternative approaches.
Ellwood was born on July 16, 1926 in San Francisco and raised in Oakland, California. He was the son of a nurse-turned-homemaker and a dedicated physician who made house calls much of Paul’s young life and served inner-city patients in Oakland into his eighties. After graduating high school, Ellwood enlisted in the Navy and served as Pharmacist Mate Third Class in the Philippines from 1944 to 1946. He went on to earn a bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 1949 and a medical degree from Stanford Medical School in 1953. He worked in the Elizabeth Kenny Institute, later known as the American Rehabilitation Foundation, from 1953 to 1971, as a physician and ultimately the Executive Director. At the same time he served as Clinical Professor of Pediatrics, Neurology and Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Minnesota, where he founded the program in Pediatric Neurology. He was co-editor of the Handbook of Physical Medicine, and received the 1971 Gold Key, physical medicine’s highest award. In 1973 he founded Interstudy, a health policy think tank based in Minnesota, where he served as Executive Director. He served as the founder and president of the Jackson Hole Group from 1971 to 2002.
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