Paul M. Ellwood Jr.

Paul M. Ellwood Jr.
Born(1926-07-16)July 16, 1926
San Francisco, California, U.S.
DiedJune 20, 2022(2022-06-20) (aged 95)
Bellingham, Washington, U.S.
EducationStanford Medical School
Known forCreator of HMOs
Medical career
Sub-specialtiespediatric neurologist

Paul Murdock Ellwood Jr. (July 16, 1926 – June 20, 2022) was an American physician and a controversial figure in American health care. Often referred to as the "father of the health maintenance organization",[1][2] 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.[3] The term "HMO" was coined by Ellwood in a January 1970 Fortune magazine article.[4][5] More recently, he had 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.[6]

  1. ^ See, for instance, Toner, Robin (February 28, 1993). "Hillary Clinton's Potent Brain Trust on Health Reform". The New York Times. p. Section 3, p. 1. and Michael Booth, "The Latest from the Father of the HMO", Corporate Report Minnesota, cover story, October 1991.
  2. ^ In "New Optimism from the Father of the HMO, An Interview with Paul Ellwood Jr., MD", Managed Care (November 1997), Ellwood reports he coined the term in May 1970 for the Nixon Administration.
  3. ^ Starr, Paul (1982). The Social Transformation of American Medicine. New York: Basic Books. p. 395. ISBN 0-465-07935-0.
  4. ^ "Our Ailing Medical System: It's Time to Operate". Fortune. New York, Harper & Row. January 1970.
  5. ^ U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment (July 1994). Managed Care and Competitive Health Care Markets: the Twin Cities Experience (PDF) (Report). Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office. OTA-BP-H- 130.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference aha was invoked but never defined (see the help page).