Abstract
Healthcare today faces an impossible task. The demographics of aging, the expectations of patients and the opportunities of science are clashing with the willingness of the nation to pay for care. The credibility of providers has been eroded. Tensions are rising, occasionally to the blowing point in Congress and in the courts. Can such conflict be resolved? Healthcare debates are escalating and increasingly contentious. Patients are no longer ‘patient’ – they are angry and taking action. Providers are no longer healing – they are negotiating contracts. Healthcare businesses are no longer thriving – they are struggling to stay above the bottom line. Investors are no longer confident in health companies – they are walking out on formerly profitable operations as threats of regulations, price controls and litigation loom large. Employers are no longer a secure source of health coverage and tax-funded programs no longer provide a certain safety net – each faces financial constraints and taxpayer backlash. Yes, the stresses inside healthcare are building. About one-third of 50-year old physicians polled recently said they planned to retire within the next 2 to 3 years and half of hospital administrators say that if allowed to chart their career course again they would not choose healthcare as a career. Is healthcare reaching the blowing point? Or will it melt down under the pressures directed at the healers we expect to care for the increasingly aging, demanding population? 2. Finding Solutions: Back to the Future
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