About Dr. Harshman

Born and raised in the United States of America, Edward Jay Harshman went to a USA medical school (University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey) and graduated in 1985.

Since then, he has had a background different from most other physicians. He began doing house calls in New York City after one year of internship, soon afterward entering a business school and completing a two-year MBA program (at the City University of New York and the Mount Sinai School of Medicine) in a year and a half. He developed a theory of economics and reimbursement that overcomes macroeconomic principles, would greatly reduce health care expense without loss of quality if adopted, and has so far not been published.

He worked for a labor union for three years, setting insurance reimbursements and reviewing complicated medical claims. Aware of dishonest billing, he wrote a computer program to recode some improperly billed claims and converted it to a paper protocol that cna be done on paper, without using a computer.

Soon afterward, he broke his neck in a swimming accident and temporarily lost most of the use of his arms and hands. After recovering from three months in a halo brace and achieving a near-perfect return of his manual dexterity, he entered a rehabilitation medicine residency. While there, he brought his street sense and his rare perspective on disability to the patients, who were generally pleased; and he acquired an interest in natural remedies after some frustration with prescription drugs.

After briefly living in Florida and gaining some familiarity with auto-collision liability issues, he moved to Maine and ignores the trend toward medical complexes, preferring to practice alone and having no restraints from hospitals or insurers.

A strong opponent of big government, Dr Harshman makes sure that his office is exempt from HIPAA, a decision that he says preserves patient privacy and greatly simplifies paperwork and office management. He also will not sign contracts in which he promises to restrict referrals that he makes.