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George Lundberg    

Medical Internet Pioneer

Dr. George Lundberg is the former editor-in-chief of Medscape, The Medscape Journal of Medicine, eMedicine, and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

A 1995 "pioneer" of the medical Internet, Dr. George Lundberg was born in Florida, grew up in rural southern Alabama and holds earned and honorary degrees from North Park College, Baylor University, the University of Alabama (Birmingham and Tuscaloosa), the SUNY, Syracuse, Thomas Jefferson University, and the Medical College of Ohio. He completed a clinical internship in Hawaii and a pathology residency in San Antonio. Dr. Lundberg served in the US army during the Vietnam War in San Francisco and El Paso, leaving as a lieutenant colonel after 11 years. He was the Professor of Pathology and Associate Director of Laboratories at the Los Angeles County/USC Medical Center for 10 years, and for five years was Professor and Chair of Pathology at the University of California-Davis.

Dr. Lundberg, author of "Severed Trust: Why American Medicine Hasn't Been Fixed," has worked in tropical medicine in Central America and Forensic Medicine in New York, Sweden, and England. The past President of the American Society of Clinical Pathologists, his major professional interests are toxicology, violence, communication, physician behavior, strategic management, and health system reform. From 1982 to 1999, Dr. Lundberg was at the American Medical Association as Editor in Chief of Scientific Information and Multimedia, with editorial responsibility for its 39 medical journals, "American Medical News," and various Internet products.

In 1999, Dr. Lundberg became Editor in Chief of Medscape, the world's leading site for health and medical information on the Internet and the founding Editor in Chief for both "Medscape General Medicine" and CBS HealthWatch.com. In 2002, Dr. Lundberg became Editor in Chief Emeritus of Medscape and Special Healthcare Advisor to the Chairman and CEO of WebMD, and continues to be the editor of Medgenmed. A frequent lecturer, radio, and television guest, and a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, Dr. Lundberg holds academic appointments as a professor at Northwestern and Harvard. In 2000, the Industry Standard dubbed Dr. Lundberg "Online Health Care's Medicine Man."

Speech Topics

The Demise of the Autopsy: The Ultimate Cover-up of Medical Error

Why American Medicine Hasn’t Been Fixed – and What We Can Do About It

Replacing House Calls With Mouse Calls

What Will Replace Managed Care?

Is the Medical Internet an Endangered Species?

Why Should Physicians, Patients, and Institutions Suddenly Now Change Established Behaviors?

Patriotism, new science, stewardship and the survival of the America we love. No legislation is necessary to affect these huge savings. Physicians, patients, and their institutions need only take a good hard look in the mirror and then follow the medical science that most benefits patients and the public health at the lowest cost.

Dr. Lundberg takes a close look at how such changes will positively affect the current healthcare landscape: physicians can reaffirm their professionalism and patients their rights, with sound ethical behavior without undue concern for meeting revenue needs. The interests of the patients and the public must supersede the self interest of the learned professional.

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How to Rein in Medical Costs

The current healthcare reform debate underestimates the ethical professionalism of many American physicians and the clout of many American patients. Efforts to control American medical costs date from at least 1932. With few exceptions, they have failed. Healthcare reform, 2009 politics-style, is again in trouble over cost control and it would be a shame if we once again fail to cover the uninsured because of hang-ups over costs.

Physician decisions drive the majority of expenditures in the US healthcare system. American healthcare costs will never be controlled until most physicians are no longer paid fees for specific services. The lure of economic incentives to provide unnecessary or unproven care, or even that known to be ineffective, drives many physicians to make the lucrative choice. Hospitals and academic medical centers are also motivated to profit from expensive procedures. Alternative payment forms used in integrated multispecialty delivery systems such as those at Geisinger, Mayo, and Kaiser Permanente are far more efficient and effective.

Fee-for-service incentives are a key reason why at least 30 percent of the $2.5 trillion expended annually for American healthcare is unnecessary. Eliminating that waste could save $750 billion annually with no harm to patient outcomes.

Currently, several House and Senate bills include various proposals to lower costs. But they are tepid at best, in danger of being bought out by special interests at worst. The Congressional Budget office has reported that none will "bend the curve" in a corrective economic direction. Continuing the status quo growth of costs is certain national economic disaster. As has been true for most of a century, many physicians will fight hard to keep fee-for-service payment systems and delays to affect such a major change will likely be significant. This presentation explores these varying, highly influential factors in the future of medical costs and their role in the structure of our nation’s healthcare reform.

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