Paul M. Ellwood, Jr.

Who is Paul M. Ellwood, Jr.?

Paul M. Ellwood, Jr. is a prominent figure in American health care. Often referred to as the "father of the health maintenance organization," he not only coined the term, he also played a role in bringing about structural changes to the American health care system to simultaneously control cost and promote health by replacing fee-for-service with prepaid, comprehensive care. The term "HMO" was coined by Dr. Paul M. Ellwood, Jr., in a January 1970 Fortune Magazine article. More recently, he has advanced an agenda for monitoring health outcomes, so that patients, providers, and payers can make health care decisions based on real information about what treatments and providers are actually effective.

Ellwood began his career as a pediatric neurologist, specializing in polio at the height of the international polio epidemic in the early 1950s. The epidemic subsided with the introduction of the polio vaccine by Jonas Salk. The Sister Kenny Institute, which Ellwood directed, then filled its vacant beds with children suffering from learning disabilities.