Healthcare That Works
Bryan Roberts1/3/12
[Editor's note: As a New Year's exercise, we asked a select group of Xconomists to answer this question: "What's the craziest idea out there that just might succeed?"]
Reinventing the absolutely dysfunctional healthcare delivery system in the U.S. It is a daunting idea, as it requires major changes in 100 years worth of doctor and patient behavior, as well as an enormous shift in our healthcare payments ecosystem. Why might it succeed? We have no choice. If it does not change, the “American Dream” is over – and we now have the tools to do it. What will be the underpinnings of this change? Firstly, turning people into consumers of healthcare—where they investigate, compare, and shop for services with an eye towards the most efficient use of resources (time, money, etc.) for the best outcome; and secondly, evolving the way in which we pay for healthcare from a pay-for-volume approach to a pay-for-outcomes approach.
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