From the Wool-sack

• Publication year: 1996
• Pages: 43
• Citation: Vol. 25 No. 11 Pg. 43

25 Colo.Law. 43 Colorado Lawyer 1996.

1996, November, Pg. 43. FROM THE WOOL-SACK

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43

Vol. 25, No. 11, Pg. 43

FROM THE WOOL-SACK

by Christopher R. Brauchli

Reputation, reputation, reputation! O! I have lost my reputation. I have lost the immortal part of myself, and what remains is bestial.

Shakespeare, Othello

This month, we have two riddles:

What do Health Maintenance Organizations and Reebok International have in common?

What do the American Medical Association and the faculty at the University of Wisconsin at Madison have in common?

The answer to the first is: neither likes criticism, even if justified. The answer to the second is: neither is shy about criticizing by informing.

The foregoing does not mean that going to a doctor who belongs to a Health Maintenance Organization is the same as wearing Reebok athletic shoes. Its not. Nonetheless, both HMOs and Reebok love praise and hate criticism. Although they may not be able to assure that they receive praise, both have tried to make sure they are not criticized.

For some time, HMOs have been inserting clauses in their contracts with physicians that prohibit the physician from telling patients about the expensive tests and treatments for which HMOs refuse to pay. They even prohibit disclosure of the financial arrangements they have with the doctors.

Thus, if you go to your doctor and your doctor has signed that kind of an agreement, the doctor is barred by his or her contract from saying something like: "There is a wonderful pill on the market that would completely cure you if you took two a day for four days, but the HMO to which you belong and for whom I work won't let me prescribe it for you because it is too expensive. Instead, I am going to give you two aspirin and you can call me in the morning."

The HMO does not mind the fact that the doctor prescribed two aspirin. It does not object to the suggestion that you call the doctor in the morning. The part of the conversation it dislikes is the part that suggests that the HMO is anything less than generous and, worse yet, more concerned about its finances than your health. It thinks that gives it a bad reputation. Like the rest of us, HMOs treasure a good reputation.

Now it has been disclosed that some of the people who make athletic shoes are just like HMOs. They, too, cherish their good reputations. The manufacturer in question is Reebok International. Reebok...