Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said Friday that a competitive healthcare market based on quality and cost savings to the consumer is the only way to change the U.S. healthcare system.
At a summit called "Implementing Healthcare Transparency," Leavitt met with hundreds of employers to bolster efforts to improve the U.S. economy through healthcare transformation. The transformation will be based on President Bush's healthcare transparency plan, issued by executive order August 2006.
Federal healthcare programs, such as Medicare, the Veterans Affairs health system and the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program already must adhere to the transparency plan in 2007. The Bush administration is now recruiting voluntary participation of employers from the private sector, Leavitt said.
Healthcare IT is the key to establishing what Leavitt called "value-driven healthcare." Interoperability and the ability to share quality, outcome and cost data will drive the consumer-driven healthcare market. The plan also calls for incentives to encourage competitively-priced care, Leavitt said.
"Tension is growing as the need for change increases," Leavitt said.
The tension is created by pressure on human resource administrators to lower the cost of healthcare for companies' bottom lines. The pressure they are under is to lower costs, no matter what it takes. They want to start measuring quality, even if it's not perfect, Leavitt said.
Doctors, on the other hand, want quality to be measured accurately, to protect their professional reputations. Doctors want the measurement to be perfect, Leavitt said.
"If doctors can't understand the urgency, the whole system of reform won't work," Leavitt said.
The U.S. healthcare market represents 16 percent of the gross national product, creating opportunity for "plenty of drama" as changes are made, Leavitt warned. Yet, "we all have economic pain in common, and the desire for better healthcare is the common denominator," Leavitt said.
Leavitt predicted that the pace will pick up for change as more companies voluntarily opt to abide by the Bush prescription for value-driven transparent healthcare. Leavitt predicted "scores" of employers will be on board by year's end.
HHS is focusing on recruiting the 200 top companies in the U.S. with 50,000 employees or more, Leavitt said. By the time the 2008 requests for proposals for federal contracts are issued, Leavitt expects 60 percent of the market to be on board with the President's plan.
Leavitt also predicted:
* Within two years, there will be quality and cost competition within local markets for some healthcare procedures.
* Within five years, value-driven healthcare will be the standard of care.
* Within 10 years, value-driven healthcare based on the Bush plan for transparency will be nationwide.
"We know competition works," Leavitt said. "We have seen it with the [Medicare] Part D program."