Thought Leaders

Healthcare is a topic fraught with sensitive issues, beginning with privacy, liability and growing costs, which then lead to equally controversial fixes such as HIPAA, malpractice insurance reforms and health savings accounts (HSAs). The lobbyists battle on the Hill, and Newt Gingrich preaches from his Center for Health Transformation, but everyone, including President Bush himself, seems to agree on one thing: The patient needs to be at the center of healthcare. As envisioned by the National Economic Council, "In an ideal system, Americans would be able to choose their healthcare based on their individual needs and preferences."

For the February 2002 issue of Health Management Technology, I authored a Thought Leaders column entitled, "Write Offs: Doing It Right The First Time"–and received an outpouring of responses from a wide variety of healthcare providers.

As 2005 marked the 40th anniversary of Medicaid, policy makers and politicians alike told us the program is unsustainable. In 2004, Medicaid consumed 25 percent of states' budgets, and costs were expected to rise 12 percent by the end of 2005. Why? The current Medicaid system is riddled with inefficiencies; it fails to provide consistently high quality healthcare because of medical errors, poor communication, incomplete records and rising insurance costs.