Gaia Theory in U.S. Health Care Industry Strategy
In the Journal of Health, Organisation and Management, Daniel F. Fahey suggests that Gaia theory may explain the rise and fall of publicly-traded physician practice management companies (abstract here, yours for a mere $24.62).
The short history of publicly-traded practice management companies
suggests that they had limited value and utility in the US healthcare
industry. It is the premise of the paper that the sudden appearance
these for-profit companies upset the natural order within the
healthcare industry and created a disequilibria which ultimately
resulted in their demise. While Gaia theory is most commonly applied to
the natural sciences, it has been applied to a number of
interdisciplinary issues.
suggests that they had limited value and utility in the US healthcare
industry. It is the premise of the paper that the sudden appearance
these for-profit companies upset the natural order within the
healthcare industry and created a disequilibria which ultimately
resulted in their demise. While Gaia theory is most commonly applied to
the natural sciences, it has been applied to a number of
interdisciplinary issues.
Gaia theory (an hypothesis, really) suggests that life as a whole fosters and maintains suitable conditions for itself by helping to create an environment on Earth suitable for its continuity. Thus, the U.S. health care industry evolves in such a way that stakeholders manipulate the environment to suite their own needs. This strikes me as self-evident.
A more helpful model for planning or analyzing changes in health care is Herzlinger's Six Forces that impact innovations in health care.
