At the Marriott at Vanderbilt this morning, the panel discussion of healthcare reform in the context of Election 2008 would probably never have touched upon the role of health information technology -- one of Nashville's claims to fame -- if panelist Dick Morris, who made clear his appearance here was underwritten by event co-sponsor Integrated Medical Systems (Birmingham) hadn't brought it up. Morris (a former Clinton White House strategist) and other panelists said that for the next few years Congress and the next President will have next-to-zero money to pay for healthcare policy reforms, but can mount a fresh attack on cost-containment and -reduction by pushing providers to improve business processes, pushing hospitals and physicians to adopt more health IT and using Federal reimbursement leverage to exact better performance. Panelist Chris Jennings, a consultant and former Clinton health-policy adviser, stressed that proper adoption of health IT should be understood as an "economic act" that forces efficiencies, rather than as an "altruistic" act that expands coverage, even though reduced costs could allow wider coverage. Panelist Chip Kahn, president of the Federation of American Hospitals, noted that in implementing health IT and related mandates, the "meat cleaver" approach must be avoided. It was Kahn who stressed, "It's the workflow, Stupid," not the technology, itself, that makes a sustainable difference. John Podesta, former Clinton chief of staff, said that while certain legal and regulatory issues (e.g., anti-trust, physicians' conflicts) must be "cleaned-up," the nation should recognize that if Wal-Mart operated the way U.S. healthcare providers do, that company would be bankrupt. The program was produced by the Nashville Health Care Council and the panel was moderated by former U.S. Senator and Majority Leader Bill Frist (shown above left, during a Princeton gathering), a partner in Cressey & Co., the venture capitalists. The panelists agreed the next President may be able to accomplish much in healthcare reform prior to 2010, but only if it's made a priority. The tone of the conversation and the number of panel comments that seemed predicated on an Obama victory, led some members of the Press covering the event to infer the panelists agreed that Obama is likely to win. Asked about that interpretation during the panelists' post-event Q&A with journalists, Frist preempted discussion by insisting that the race remains too close to call.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Election '08 panelists on Health IT today in Nashville
At the Marriott at Vanderbilt this morning, the panel discussion of healthcare reform in the context of Election 2008 would probably never have touched upon the role of health information technology -- one of Nashville's claims to fame -- if panelist Dick Morris, who made clear his appearance here was underwritten by event co-sponsor Integrated Medical Systems (Birmingham) hadn't brought it up. Morris (a former Clinton White House strategist) and other panelists said that for the next few years Congress and the next President will have next-to-zero money to pay for healthcare policy reforms, but can mount a fresh attack on cost-containment and -reduction by pushing providers to improve business processes, pushing hospitals and physicians to adopt more health IT and using Federal reimbursement leverage to exact better performance. Panelist Chris Jennings, a consultant and former Clinton health-policy adviser, stressed that proper adoption of health IT should be understood as an "economic act" that forces efficiencies, rather than as an "altruistic" act that expands coverage, even though reduced costs could allow wider coverage. Panelist Chip Kahn, president of the Federation of American Hospitals, noted that in implementing health IT and related mandates, the "meat cleaver" approach must be avoided. It was Kahn who stressed, "It's the workflow, Stupid," not the technology, itself, that makes a sustainable difference. John Podesta, former Clinton chief of staff, said that while certain legal and regulatory issues (e.g., anti-trust, physicians' conflicts) must be "cleaned-up," the nation should recognize that if Wal-Mart operated the way U.S. healthcare providers do, that company would be bankrupt. The program was produced by the Nashville Health Care Council and the panel was moderated by former U.S. Senator and Majority Leader Bill Frist (shown above left, during a Princeton gathering), a partner in Cressey & Co., the venture capitalists. The panelists agreed the next President may be able to accomplish much in healthcare reform prior to 2010, but only if it's made a priority. The tone of the conversation and the number of panel comments that seemed predicated on an Obama victory, led some members of the Press covering the event to infer the panelists agreed that Obama is likely to win. Asked about that interpretation during the panelists' post-event Q&A with journalists, Frist preempted discussion by insisting that the race remains too close to call.
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