Formally educated as an industrial engineer, Walt Lane decided to enter medical school after an aircraft he was flying as a Navy pilot was forced into the Mediterranean during the Korean War. Recuperating from his injuries in a hospital, he observed those about him engaged in life-saving work, and decided to make it his own. At discharge, he returned to Tampa where he completed his undergraduate work at the University of Tampa and received his M.D. in 1965 from the University of Florida College of Medicine in Family Practice. During his senior year, he was awarded the AMA Gold Medal for his development of an innovative and cost-effective laboratory test kit that enabled medical offices to perform routine laboratory analyses at a fraction of normal costs. For this accomplishment, he was named one of the "Ten Outstanding Young Men in America" in 1965 by the National Jaycees, alongside other nominees that included Joseph Califano and Ralph Nader. His Naval experience and formal education as an industrial engineer would prove invaluable to his work as a physician. Working in a two-man family practice, Walt set to the task of engineering a facility plan that best served the unique demands of a medical office. By 1968, he had designed a functional floor plan and support resources for up to three physicians, including eight examination rooms, a central laboratory, surgical suite, radiology area, innovative color-coded communication system, and a functional check in/check out area to effectively complement patient flow. Later, a new wing would be added to address the growing need for industrial medicine and to accommodate increased demands for patient education. The funding for the new and innovative medical office was loaned to the practice by Dr. Lane's grandmother who had great confidence in her grandson. His father, Walter W. Lane, Sr. served as the general contractor assuring that the final design met Walt's specifications. It was a family affair. The resulting facility housed both an innovative medical office, and a dental wing developed with practicality and efficiency in mind. Dr Lane's interest in efficiency, however, did not stop with the creation of a proper facility. Dr. Lane convened a luncheon every tuesday at a local restaurant with different administrative and paramedical staff in attendance, to solicit comments and evaluate the practice, its function, its demands, and recommendations for improvement. In 1970, Dr. Lane published the first time and motion studies ever performed in a medical office in Medical Economics, a professional journal. His monthly published articles in Patient Care magazine focused upon patient scheduling, chief complaints, referrals, and creation of clinical groups to educate patients and treat high blood pressure and diabetes in a peer format, rather than through individual physician visits that demanded more effective time and resources. In 1974, Dr. Lane, working with a New York production company, contributed to the development of several patient education films in filmstrip format, utilizing pre and post program testing (to measure patient comprehension), as well as educational materials to guide patients during the experience. Dr. Lane viewed patient education as a critical element of his work as a physician. During the week, at peak times, Dr Lane's medical office would schedule patients every 9 minutes, . On Saturdays, the office would routinely schedule just over 100 patients within an eight hour window. Dr Lane and his partners experimented with satellite clinics in surrounding areas in an attempt to bring medical services to rural places in a cost-effective manner. Dr. Lane championed patient education and helped to establish and promote the Health Hazard Appraisal (an automated health risk registry) with its developer and good friend, Jack H. Hall, MD of Indianapolis. Dr. Hall, VP of Medical Education, was instrumental in creating an opportunity for Dr. Lane as a professor within the new Family Practice Center at Indiana University. In late 1977, Walt left his Temple Terrace medical practice and moved his family to Indianapolis just in time to experience the blizzard of '78. The academic experience was exceptional but the weather was not his preference, and the following year, he returned to Tampa and, again, set to the task of designing and constructing a new medical office to best serve his professional practice. He resumed his medical practice in a different location and a new facility named 'The Village Doctor in the Carrollwood area of Tampa. It was not long after this relocation that he lost his wife, Nancie, to leukemia. Throwing himself into his work, Dr Lane continued tirelessly to establish the primary care practice as the best means of controlling medical costs, through his written journal articles, and formation of two corporations to represent the interests of family physicians with major national insurers. Then, Walt was introduced to the attractive and engaging woman who would later accept his proposal. Jane, a professional in her own right, would remain his loving and supportive wife, travel companion and best friend through retirement, and for the rest of his life.

The remarkable footprints he left in family medicine were Walter Lane's unique contribution; a legacy that continues to influence patient care and best practices in medicine to this day. Though he was a renowned physician and industrial engineer by profession, Walter Lane was a loyal family man who doted on his children, and those who through the church, professional relationships, and casual friendships made his life more fulfilling. He will be missed by all who were privileged to know him.