Call Number:

Ms. Coll. 1626

Repository:

University of Pennsylvania: Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts

Extent:

.63 linear feet (2 boxes)

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Leon I. Hyman papers relating to managed care, 1950-2015 (bulk: 1968-1974), Ms. Coll. 1626, Kislak Center for Special Collections, Rare Books and Manuscripts, University of Pennsylvania

Date:

1950-2015 (inclusive) and 1968-1974 (bulk)

Creator:

Hyman, Leon I. (Leon Irving), 1927-2019

Form:

Articles, Correspondence, Publications (documents), and Reports

Abstract:

Leon I. Hyman (1927-2019) was an insurance executive. His papers relate to manage care and document his role in the development of the earliest private sector hospitalization review program. This program of pre-admission testing before non-acute patients entered the hospital was subsequently used as a model for Medicare and Medicaid.

Leon Irving Hyman was born on November 13, 1927 to Wolf Hyman (1886-1956) and Fannie Deckman Hyman (1898-1968) in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Hyman graduated from Bridgeport Central High School in 1945 and enrolled in the University of Pennsylvania. His freshman year was cut short when he was drafted into the U.S. Army and served as part of the Occupation Forces in Japan from 1946-1948. He returned to the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Economics in 1950. After graduation, he began working at New York Life Insurance Company in New York City. It was here that Hyman was introduced to his future wife, Frances Skydel (1932-2023). The couple were married in 1956 and welcomed two sons, William and Scott.

Hyman ventured westward in 1967 to join the California-Western States Life Insurance Company (Cal-West) as Vice President of Group Research and Development. While at Cal-West, he worked with the Kaiser Permanente Hospital Group and local medical associations to develop medical cost containment strategies, which led to the creation of the first Professional Standards Review Organizations (PSRO), the predecessor to Health Maintenance Organizations (HMO).

He was recruited by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company (Met Life) in 1974, where he served as the marketing team head in the group life and health operations unit. He was promoted to vice president in charge of health care resources and cost management at Met Life in 1984. He was was appointed president of Corporate Health Strategies, an affiliate of Met Life in 1989. He retired in 1992.

Hyman spent his retirement pursuing his passion of portrait painting. He died on June 5, 2019.

Sources: Obituary, 2019 and ancestry.com

This collection of correspondence, newspaper clippings, articles, publications, brochures, pamphlets, proposals, memoranda, reports, forms and directories detail Hyman's role in the development of the earliest private sector hospitalization review program. This program of pre-admission testing before non-acute patients entered the hospital was subsequently used as a model for Medicare and Medicaid.

This collection is divided into two series: I. Loose-leaf binders, and II. History of Hyman's career. Series I is comprised of three binders of documentation Hyman compiled, that he labeled Historic introduction and development of; Utilization review for benefit programs to cut cost and raise quality of care; and Private and public sectors. Hyman wrote, "The concept of prospective review of medical necessity and increased accountability inherent therein was a major innovation (in the war against rising costs) that I proposed, initiated and administered working with the local medical societies in Sacramento and later Phoenix. The three volumes of documentation chronicles the development." The order in which Hyman placed items in the binders was maintained when rehousing the items into folders.

The binder, Historic introduction and development of contains material relating to the development of the Certified Hospital Admission Program (CHAP) developed by Hyman while at Cal-West. Hyman conceived the idea for Cal-West to work with the Medical Care Foundation of Sacramento in developing a program of pre-admission testing before non-acute patients entered the hospital.

The Utilization review for benefit programs to cut cost and raise quality of care binder duplicates some of the material located in the above mentioned binder but mainly contains conference presentations and proceedings in which Hyman and doctors associated with The Medical Care Foundation of Sacramento presented on the CHAP program.

The third binder, Private and public sectors, includes an "Overview of managed care," handwritten by Hyman as well as the essentials of the health care plan he conceived, including forms, schedules of benefits, pamphlets, and directories.

The material found in Series II was located in an accordion folder labeled "Some history Leon career." This material includes Hyman's University of Pennsylvania senior thesis and Hyman's original proposal for preventive care he made to the Medical Care Foundation of Sacramento.