Pyrrhic Victory

During recent lobbying for his health care reform platform, US President Obama praised organizations such as Intermountain Health for being role models in providing high-quality care, without skyrocketing costs. Obama echoed comments made by a senior Intermountain executive: “Much of the rest of the country tends to focus on the volumes of health care services they provide, because that's what the system rewards, rather than the care that's necessary to help the patient.”

Bingo.

Have you had the chance to read “On the folly of rewarding A, while hoping for B” yet? According to this classic essay, we should expect exactly the system we have, that is, pay me fee-for-service and I’ll give you lots of service. And don’t call me greedy; we’re all responsible (via elected politicians) for supporting this dysfunctional system of rewards.