Greetings from Transforming Healthcare 2009

Steve Wardell has pulled it off. Hundreds of people crowded into the ballroom at the Seaport Hotel in Boston for Transforming Healthcare 2009: Impact and Opportunity in the Obama Plan.Steve kicked off the formal program by asking for a show of hands on some key questions:

  • Who works for an organization that is focused on reducing health care costs?
  • Who works for an organization that is focused on improving health care quality?
  • Who works for an organization that's doing both?

Steve was surprised when the majority of audience members raised their hands for all three questions.I wasn't so surprised about that, actually. People are probably being honest about their answers, and yet somehow costs have continued rising and quality is still so-so.There are plenty of possible explanations:

  • An enthusiastic crowd wanting to respond positively
  • Everyone's only recently gotten religion so we haven't seen the impact yet
  • Everyone is working in their own silo, and improvements in cost and quality in niches are not translating into systematic improvements
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