Post-Reform Jitters: Opportunities for Positive Change in the Healthcare Industry
May 19, 2010 · 1 comment
Industry Insights from Paul Meade, M. Sc, MPH
With all the players in the healthcare field scrambling to understand just how the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is going to impact their livelihood, it is no wonder everyone has “Post-Reform Jitters.” A new report has just been published by PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute titled, “Health Reform: Prospering in a Post-Reform World,” which suggests that everyone is going to have to work together nicely and all get along. This is, undoubtedly, an interesting concept, since the healthcare industry has spent the last hundred years fragmenting and segmenting care delivery. In fact, health care in the United States has become a system of silos and fiefdoms with so many intermediary players all attempting to “carve out” their respective niches and take their fair share of the profits that healthcare costs have become the proverbial runaway train. So why are we so worried?
We can sum up the impact of this new healthcare reform in two words: accountability and transparency. To effectively integrate healthcare back into a manageable, efficient system, the players are certainly going to have to get along and play nicely, as suggested by the PWC report. But more importantly, those who play in the healthcare game are going to have to be more accountable to those receiving the ... read more »
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accountability biology cost of health care evidence-based health outcomes genetics Gillings School of Global Public Health health care in United States health care reform medical ethics medical science Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act Paul Meade PricewaterhouseCoopers PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Research Institute quality care transparency University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill