Not this time. In this case, it was America Online, pushing its Internet market expansion well past its ability to assure quality and access. However, AOL could well serve as a poster child for our efforts to force accountability by the mega medical corporations that now dominate healthcare. Three HMOs have cornered nearly three-fourths of the market in California. But that doesn t make these corporations omnipotent.
Public opinion counts.
Potentially a healthcare consumer-caregiver alliance really can reverse the disastrous trends of corporate medicine and mismanaged care. Major businesses that had contracted for vital services were enduring costly delays in vital transactions and data processing. Compare what happened to AOL to what s been unfolding in the healthcare industry. Healthcare restructuring, like managed care before it, rode in on promises of improved quality and lower costs. One result has been a decade-long golden age for healthcare executives, speculators, and investors.