On Tue, 13 Oct 1998 01:45:29 +0100, Peter Wilson wrote:

George said of the 'Medical Chambers/Firm':

>That's the sort of future I can look forward to. It answers my needs as well as the clients'.

Peter then asks:

>I'm really sorry to appear _so_ thick but ..... er..... now you haven't got
>all them patients to deal with ;-) Would you mind breaking down each of your
>seven steps with an explanation of how they might be achieved. e.g. don't
>the clients of Legal Chambers pay for their services? Or is this like a
>legal aid scenario? Or am I being _even_ more thick than usual?

For reasons of clarity, I shall omit quotes of Peter's message and
answer the questions directly and indirectly.  Some of the stuff below
may be way out for some of you, but this is how it is.  This is one of
the jobs that the 'AlphaMed Caucus' thinktank should be doing.

I have made the pamphlet below as brief and as clear as possible. 
Needless to say that each of the steps in the programme are subject to
lengthy arguments and justifications.

>>Risk's 7 steps to heaven:

1.  Yes, the Chambers will be independent of central funding.  The
Chambers provides goods and services and is not a government
department.

2.  The 'purchasers' are government in the shape of the NHS (if they
wish to continue to use that model).  Government may wish to use a
'Medical Aid Board' model instead.  The 'Firm' is the 'Chambers'.  A
group of like minded individuals who get together under single
management and are serviced by a host of professional and
non-professional aides.  Some members of the Chambers will do 'Medical
Aid Board' work, others will do high profile stuff and others will
specialise in certain stuff, including secondary and tertiary work.

3.  The Firm shall invest in its people by selecting the best of breed
for the various jobs it does, rewards and motivates them handsomely and
looks after them in the hard times.

4.  The resources for the rewards, encouragement, education and
training come from the Chambers' corporate coffers.

5.  Yes, the Chambers shall strive to be 'super' in every way but with
due regard to the fine balance between expansion and consolidation and
integration.  The Firm is corporate, the Firm is an organisation.

6.  The Firm shall have a common culture at a top level.  Within that
culture, there is diversity of the salad bowl type *not* of the melting
pot type.  That culture permeates all aspects of the Firm's life.  When
you subscribe to the Firm, you do so because of affinity and synergy
not because the culture has been drummed into you.  In other words,
it's kind of binary: either you'll immediately spot the Firm that best
fits your own set of beliefs and frame of reference, or you won't.

7.  The Firm has responsibilities not only to its shareholders but also
to the people it serves (patients) by giving them the best opportunity
of wellness and freedom from disease,  it helps them in the hard times
and is generous with them in the good times.  The Firm is also good to
its suppliers and providers of ancillary services in the sense that it
respects and understands their needs, constraints and motivation.

The Firm has the highest regard to the environment it operates within
whether it is physical or biological.

Above all, the Firm *believes* in itself and its dynamic evolving
vision and is committed to excellence in everything it does.


Ahmad

________________________________________

Dr Ahmad Risk
http://mednetics.org
Office: +44 (1273) 748198
Home: +44 (1273) 724866
Fax:  +44 (1273) 748198




%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%