The revolution of Dr. Wollschlaeger
Dr. Bernd Wollschlaeger has launched a political revolution among doctors in Florida.
Today the Florida Medical Association, tomorrow the world of medicine.
My personal apologies for that last. Dr. Wollschlaeger, a North Miami internist, is the son of a Nazi officer. He is also a convert to Judaism and a former resident of Israel. He has written about all this in his autobiography, A German Life.
In a recent Miami Herald profile, he showed off an office that does not take insurance, even Medicare. He also advocates for universal health coverage and greater use of both Electronic Medical Records as well as online patient contact. The story says his car sports an Obama sticker.
In his blog (actually his second blog (correction: his third)), Dr. Wollschlaeger is detailing what he considers problems with the Florida Medical Association, and asking doctors across the state to help him lead reform.
He calls the FMA a knee-jerk conservative outfit which is losing members, which focuses only on malpractice rates, and whose leaders do not reflect its membership.
His brief against insurance is that carriers don't reimburse for the full cost of processing claims. Doctors need to arm themselves with technology in order to compete, he says.
Give Dr. Wollschlaeger some power in the profession and I guarantee you will see change.