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WE FACE A MOUNTING CRISIS IN HEALTHCARE TODAY. In the U.S. alone, healthcare costs now account for more
than 16 percent of the GDP and continue to grow at a
rapid rate. Meanwhile, increasingly sophisticated consumers
are seeking higher standards of care and comprehensive
treatment for the holistic person.
Despite significant healthcare reforms, such as HIPAA
and the new Medicare drug law; technology advances that
have made information exchange possible and improved
security dramatically; and increased investments around
the world in health-related infrastructure, we still have not
come to consensus on the priorities, approach or measures
we need to resolve the current crisis. We need to take
responsibility for defining the roles that each of us now
have to play.
Healthcare today relies on centralized allocation of
resources and services and a one-size-fits-all approach
to patients. And frankly, it is a model that is falling apart
at the seams. We see the results in rising costs, decreased
innovation and dissatisfied patients.
It does not have to be this way. We now have a major
opportunity to transform health systems.
Everything is aligning. We have the will within the
healthcare community to make a change. We have the
available technology to improve health management
and create more informed and proactive planning of healthcare.
And, we have the urgency that has pushed healthcare
reform to the top of political agendas around the world.
We have all come to recognize the importance of
transforming existing health practices and systems to
focus on the patient. In fact, from a 2006 Accenture/
Harris Interactive survey, healthcare executives who
attended the 2006 World Healthcare Congress reported
that rising costs is our top challenge, followed by the
need for greater accountability and clinical outcome
measurements and the need to improve the quality of
patient care.
How do we address these challenges? We must move to
a patient-centered, connected health approach to succeed.
We need a new model that emphasizes preventive health
programs, availability of reliable cost and quality data,
and information technologies, such as electronic medical
records. Only then can we reduce healthcare costs while
improving the quality of care.
This new model – a patient-centered, connected
health model – will have significant implications for all
of us. It will mean new structures, such as outcomesbased
payment, patient-level funding and health pathways.
It will mean new capabilities in analytics, health delivery
models and integration. It will mean new governance
through new regulation, risk/reward programs and incentives.
And finally, it will create new roles for health counsel
and health managers to connect with patients and
guide them as they take increased responsibility for their
health into their own hands.
But most importantly it will take continued dialogue
among us all. The impending changes in healthcare are as
exciting as they are necessary. We are the leaders of this
healthcare revolution and our efforts will have profound
impact. When we have succeeded, we will have transformed
healthcare for future generations.
Patients will know better quality of healthcare, even
though there is relatively less spent on healthcare providers,
hospitals and medicines. They will enjoy better access to
healthcare even though there are fewer hospital beds, and
patients see less of traditional healthcare providers. And we
will all have lower cost of healthcare even though quality
has improved, the range of health services has expanded
and use of technology has increased.
As you go through the book, take what you have
learned from the insights shared in the various chapters
to continue the good work in your own organizations
and to continue to lead the charge for a patient-centered,
connected healthcare model.
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