Prior to the merger forming Allina, Dr Ehlen led Medica, the state s largest managed care organization. As Dr Ehlen recently said, My career in healthcare has been long and varied. Because I am a physician, I have always had a strong moral commitment to helping people improve their lives through better healthcare. We thank Dr Ehlen for his leadership of Allina and in the healthcare community, and also appreciate his strong support of and contributions to The Medical Journal of Allina. In his most recent contribution, he addresses, quite appropriately, the topic of what s ahead.
Every organization has to prepare for the abandonment of everything that it does.
This quote accurately characterizes the environment everyone faces as we enter the new millennium. To describe the work of physicians as challenging in today s volatile environment is truly an understatement. Clearly, we are entering an era where every aspect of healthcare will be very different from what we have known in the past. Clinicians are well positioned to play a key role in creating new, better approaches to healthcare and financing in a world of limited resources. The challenge clinicians and all of us face in the years to come will be our ability to see and respond to the world of medicine in new and different ways.