By Stephen Beller
The central problem in the U.S. health care system isn’t cost or insurance, per se, it’s the challenge of increasing health care value to the patient/consumer.
That means we must improve the poor quality and inefficiency of care, so that we all receive only the care we need, delivered in a timely and effective manner, without waste and over-treatment, and with a focus on integrating “well-care” (prevention and self-management) with sick-care.
It also means dealing with the knowledge void, an ironic situation in which our health care community is drowning in oceans of information, yet no one knows the best ways to prevent health problems and treat them cost-effectively, especially when you take individual differences into account. To address this problem, we need better health information technologies, as well as a collaborated effort to develop, disseminate, and deliver cost-effective evidence-based care.
If consumers were to receive high value health care in this manner, costs would be lower since poor care costs more and delivering only the minimal necessary care typically results in better outcomes! More appropriate care, delivered competently and cost-effectively through cost-conscious, patient-centered “medical homes,” for example, is the only way to control costs long-term.
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