My Cheapest Accomplice Was Two Words: “Industry Standard”

The post: Dr. Bricker argued that consulting firms are hidden enablers of high healthcare costs, citing reporting on advice given to an opioid maker and a consultant who told a hospital to milk fee-for-service as long as it could.

Read Dr. Eric Bricker's original post on LinkedIn →

My comment:

I didn't need a consultant to tell me to milk fee-for-service. I had a cheaper accomplice: two words, "industry standard." One afternoon a physician and my lab's chief scientist each asked me, an hour apart, to remove a one-click button that ordered a 54-analyte urine panel. I called it insubordination and pointed to a bigger company's playbook. Nobody outside the building had to talk me into anything. The advisors I listened to were the ones who agreed with me. The two people who disagreed were the critics I never hired. That's what your post gets right: an accomplice only works for someone who has already decided. The question worth asking any leadership team is who in the room is paid to say no.

Originally posted as a comment on LinkedIn.