Lee Beecher, MD, as a board certified psychiatrist had an active practice that spanned more than four decades. A graduate of the University of Minnesota Medical School, Dr. Beecher did his residency at the Pritzker School of Medicine at the University of Chicago.
After a stint in the Navy, Dr. Beecher returned to Minnesota and began his clinical practice, culminating in his retirement in 2014.
He served as a delegate to the American Psychiatric Association (APA), and on the Board of the Minnesota Psychiatric Society, where he also served as President. During this time, he lobbied Congress and the Minnesota Legislature as an advocate for his profession, psychiatric patients and their families.
Dr. Beecher served as an associate medical director at PreferredOne, a managed care company in Minnesota, for a period of years. Always, however, he maintained a private independent practice.
About half of his practice dealt with addiction. He was certified by the American Society of Addiction Medicine and had special qualifications in Addiction Psychiatry from the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology. He also continued to practice general psychiatry treating the wide range of mental disorders.
During his 42 years of practice, Dr. Beecher maintained his strong conviction that the focus of medical care must always be the patient. Upon entering retirement, his commitment to the physician-patient relationship increased.
In 2005, and until his retirement in 2014, he changed his business model from one of previous dependency on government and insurance company third party payments to a Direct Pay Independent Practice model. For ten years he received payments for all of his professional services directly from his patients.
Dr. Beecher began working with Dave Racer on medical and mental health care reform concepts and ideas the the Fall of 2015. The two men talked regularly, gathering an immense amount of data which eventually resulted in this book.
Dr. Beecher's Curriculum Vitae
Read more in-depth about Dr. Beecher's background and credentials from a lifetime career in psychiatry.
Dr. Beecher and Dave Racer spent more than 28 months discussing ideas, researching, writing, and finally producing Passion for Patients. Racer and Dr. Beecher both served together for several years as officers and members of the Board of the Minnesota Physician-Patient Alliance.
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