"We cannot solve problems with the same kind of thinking we used when we created them."-Albert EinsteinWe have a new way of thinking. Over the past 30 years, computational science has accelerated exploration of our universe and those of us who inhabit it. Systems science can explore complex, dynamic networks over time visualizing relationships, mechanisms and bringing insights on how whole systems equal more than the sum of their parts.Emergent properties of these whole systems demonstrate behaviors which individual elements of the system do not possess. Examples of these properties are everywhere from behavior of ant colonies, to a game of chess, to the behavior of terrorist networks. You and I are displaying emergent properties right now resulting from interactions of trillions of cells that make up our bodies, each a complex system of its own.After traveling the world working in military intelligence, becoming a physician and now an executive working with providers, payers, legislators and communities on the $3 trillion question of healthcare value I have come to believe that health is a property which emerges from the irreducibly complex system we call a community. Every community has measurable anatomy (components), physiology (interactions), identity, purpose and demands a steady diet of quality information. When these community functions do not occur, pathology results and our community/individual health suffers.I founded The Community Doctor to offer a new way of thinking about health that, together, individuals build and bring to life living communities that aren't silo'd and disjointed. Together, we spark the synapses and relationships that create healthy community physiology. Together, we define the identity of our communities. Together, we experience the purpose of our communities and, in turn, experience the purpose of ourselves.Look for my website: thecommunitydoctor.com coming soon or message/email me anytime.

The ABCM Corporation is one of the largest and longest running post-acute providers in the state of Iowa and nation. ABCM owns/operates 55 post-acute facilities providing residential support to ~2500 Iowans and employing just over 3000 Iowans.In my work with ABCM I travel across the state visiting with healthcare administrators, nursing homes, hospitals and doctors. I help these traditionally separate providers collaborate, within their value-based system, in optimizing/innovating/implementing evidence based projects aimed at goals such as reducing hospitalizations/re-hospitalizations, ER utilization, decreasing lengths of stay and other measures of importance for their nursing home and post-acute population.