Relentless Health Value EP495: Wait … Flip That—A Crazy Revelation I Had About Trying to Fix U.S. Healthcare, With Mick Connors, MD
8 snips
Dec 11, 2025 Dr. Mick Connors, an emergency pediatrician and healthcare entrepreneur, shares a groundbreaking revelation about U.S. healthcare. He highlights the critical importance of cost accounting that clinicians often overlook and exposes how focusing on revenue can lead to poor decision-making in patient care. Connors argues for prioritizing outcomes over mere margins, critiquing private equity's impact on pediatric care. He emphasizes the need to target the sickest patients to lower costs and advocates for restoring mission-driven leadership in healthcare.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Flip Cost And Outcome Measurement
- U.S. healthcare measures costs at the macro level but outcomes at the service level, creating a misalignment.
- Flip it: do unit-level cost accounting and measure outcomes at whole-person and population levels.
Unit Cost Blindness Blocks Discipline
- Most organizations cannot state the unit cost of delivering a specific service, blocking fiscal discipline.
- Without unit cost accounting you can't control or sustainably lower healthcare costs.
Spine Rods Cost More Than Payment
- Mick Connors recounts discovering spinal surgery rods cost more than reimbursement, exposing unprofitable services.
- That example shows downstream revenue can mask negative margins when unit costs are unknown.