Improving the Economics and Clinical Outcomes of Healthcare

This week on The CEO TV Show, I interview George Halvorson. Halvorson is Chairman and CEO of Kaiser Permanente, the nation’s largest private not-for-profit health care company. Kaiser Permanente has revenues of over $50 billion, 180,000 employees; over 8.8 million members covered by its plans; and runs 35 hospitals, 454 medical offices with over 15,000 physicians. Consequently, Halvorson has a unique and objective perspective on America’s health care problems and solutions.

Halvorson discusses how the problem with health care in America is that the business model is seriously flawed because we pay for “pieces of care”, not packages of care or outcomes of care.  Consequently we have an “unfocused, unconnected, and uncoordinated approach to providing health care services”. Consequently, Halvorson says, “we have inferior healthcare even though we spend more money than anyone in the world.”

What needs to be done?

“Ten percent of patients are responsible for 80% of the costs. So focusing on that 10% and coming up with total health solutions will immediately start lowering costs. It does the system no good if all we ever do is focus on providing health care after an emergency has taken place.”

Halvorson discusses much more in this interview about the process of health care in America and what needs to be done to get the costs under control and resolve most of our problems. To watch the current episode with George Halverson, it can be seen at The CEO TV Show.

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