Capturing the Flag
In his first major speech since leaving the office of CMS administrator last December, Donald M. Berwick, MD, issued an urgent call to action, asking all health care providers to find ways to reduce the cost of care. Value is not enough, he said. “It will take cost reduction to capture the flag. Efficiency is the quality dimension of our time.”
As you read this issue of HealthCXO, you will notice there is more than one road to efficiency, and in the case of Richard Afable, MD, MPH, and Hoag Hospital, that road was paved with Michael Porter’s shared value theory. Our quasi-market-driven health system fosters innovation of the Hoag variety, but the urgent tone of Berwick’s talk was not hyperbole. In the words of Leonard Schaeffer, founding CEO of Wellpoint, unbridled growth in health care expenditures could sink the U.S. economy and threaten our national security, and health care reform is unlikely to bend the cost curve—enough.
To achieve a more efficient health care delivery system, we will need strategy, tactics, and tools, and one of the most potent tools is health information technology, believes Robert Pearl, MD, CEO, The Permanente Medical Group. The articles in this issue are based on coverage of The 8th Annual American Health Care Congress, December 5–6, 2011, Anaheim, California, a conference that convened health policy leaders, providers, and insurers to discuss innovative business and care delivery models. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Please share your thoughts: The clock is ticking.
Cheryl Proval | cproval@imagingbiz.com
Cheryl Proval,
Vice President, Executive Editor, Radiology Business
Cheryl began her career in journalism when Wite-Out was a relatively new technology. During the past 16 years, she has covered radiology and followed developments in healthcare policy. She holds a BA in History from the University of Delaware and likes nothing better than a good story, well told.