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Morgan Cheatham: One of The Most Important Diagrams in Medicine

Morgan Cheatham/LinkedIn

Jul 15, 2025, 16:17

Morgan Cheatham: One of The Most Important Diagrams in Medicine

Morgan Cheatham, Partner and Head of Healthcare and Life Sciences at Breyer Capital, shared a post on LinkedIn about an article by Larry A. Green et al., published on NEJM.

“This diagram is one of the most important in medicine.

Published over two decades ago in NEJM, ‘The Ecology of Medical Care Revisited’ captured a persistent truth: of every 1000 people, 800 report symptoms each month. 327 consider seeking care. 217 actually do. Just 8 are hospitalized. Fewer than 1 reach an academic medical center.

Most care begins—and ends—outside the walls of formal institutions. Yet our medical system continues to concentrate resources at the narrowest end of the funnel.

AI has the potential to reconfigure this structure; not by funneling more people into the center, but by making it possible to surface need earlier, support decisions longitudinally, and extend the reach of care into everyday life.

For the first time, we may be able to touch all 1,000.”

Douglas Flora, Executive Medical Director of Oncology Services at St. Elizabeth Healthcare, shared this post on LinkedIn, adding:

“While I can’t confirm the precise accuracy of these numbers versus the original publication (and frankly, I suspect they’ve worsened), this really highlights for me the incredible utility of AI.

Imagine the possibilities to make complex healthcare processes smoother for everyone, ultimately boosting both patient access and overall outcomes.

Thanks for the insightful share, Morgan Cheatham.”

Title: The Ecology of Medical Care Revisited

Authors: Larry A. Green, George E. Fryer Jr., Barbara P. Yawn, David Lanier, Susan M. Dovey

Read The Full Article at NEJM.

Morgan Cheatham: One of The Most Important Diagrams in Medicine