A 360-degree look at health care politics, policy, providers, and personalization that offers leaders important perspectives to successfully shape US health care after COVID-19
Over the past decade, the health economy has experienced the most dramatic change since the passage of Medicare and Medicaid in 1965. The Affordable Care Act’s expansion of Medicaid, demographic-driven Medicare growth, and the digitization of health records have rapidly changed the traditional dynamics of the field—and the pandemic has accelerated this process. Experienced and aspiring health sector leaders must navigate an increasingly complex health care landscape in order to conceive, create, and implement solutions to improve our health care system now and in the future.
The New Health Economy provides health professionals with a 360-degree look at the field by exploring four pillars of the health economy: politics, policy, providers, and personalization. Topics covered include the federal government’s role as the largest payer and regulator of health care, health care finance and the shift from the fee-for-service model toward value-based care, the increasing consolidation of provider networks, and data-driven personalizations inside and outside of the field. Drawing from interviews with top leaders in the field—including a former CDC director, a former FDA commissioner, and the current CEOs of Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson—this essential guide compares each sector before and during the COVID-19 crisis. These comparisons shed light on how the pandemic has accelerated recent trends in health care and provide leaders with an outline for a strategic path forward.
The New Health Economy brings together the best thinking from across the health care sector, providing insight into COVID-19’s impact on the health economy and setting the ground rules required to shape a new health care system as we emerge from the pandemic. This valuable resource will benefit CEOs and other leaders in the health economy, from hospitals to provider networks and beyond.
Table of Contents
Foreword by Ron Adner
A Note from the Authors
Introduction: The U.S. Health Economy
Part One: Health Care Politics
1. Background: Health Care Is Fully Political
2. COVID-19 Interviews: Chaos from Testing to Vaccines
Julie Gerberding, MD, Former Director, CDC
Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, Former FDA Commissioner and Former CMS Administrator
Bob Kerrey, Former Governor and Former Senator, Nebraska
Alex Gorsky, Chairman and CEO, Johnson & Johnson
3. Lessons for Leaders: Develop Incremental and Bipartisan Agendas
Part Two: Health Policy
4. Background: Payment Is Policy
5. COVID-19 Interviews: Flashpoint on Disparities and Misaligned Incentives
Rod Hochman, MD, President and CEO, Providence
Tom Betlach, Former Director, Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System
Nancy-Ann DeParle, Former Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy to President Barack Obama
6. Lessons for Leaders: Anchor on Affordability
Part Three: Provider Networks
7. Background: All Health Care Is Local
8. COVID-19 Interviews: The Front Line Battle
Steven J. Corwin, MD, President and CEO, NewYork-Presbyterian
Wright Lassiter III, President and CEO, Henry Ford Health System
Craig Samitt, MD, Former President and CEO, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota
9. Lessons for Leaders: Embrace the New Middle
Part Four: Data-Driven Personalization
10. Background: Individual as Decision Maker
11. COVID-19 Interviews: Focus on the Whole Person
Albert Bourla, DVM, PhD, Chairman and CEO, Pfizer
Carolyn Witte, Cofounder and CEO, Tia
Marcus Osborne, Senior Vice President, Walmart Health
12. Lessons for Leaders: Organize Around the Person
Conclusion: A Call to Action
Appendix: COVID-19 Timeline
Bibliography
About the Authors
Index
Reviews
"The New Health Economy is a masterclass about how health care works—and doesn’t work—in America."—Bob Kocher, former special assistant to President Obama for health care and economic policy and partner at Venrock
"If the COVID-19 pandemic was the catalyst for the rapid change our health system needs, The New Health Economy is the guidebook for leaders intent on bringing value to American patients, purchasers, and policymakers. This authoritative book belongs on the desk of every current and future health company CEO."—Ceci Connolly, president and CEO, Alliance of Community Health Plans
"The New Health Economy rightly focuses on one of the most critical issues facing US health care: rapidly escalating costs. The affordability crisis is real and, as the authors argue, will define social and economic vitality in the decade ahead. This is an essential read for leaders seeking to better understand the forces of change at play in health care, and how we can better manage them to reimagine the future of health in America."—David Cordani, president and CEO, Cigna
"In clinical medicine, the ‘crisis’ is the point in the course of an illness where the patient either dies or gets better. In health care management and health care systems, neither has happened. The New Health Economy breaks out of the model of crisis and instead identifies leadership as the key element for improvement."—Mark V. Pauly, Bendheim Professor in the Department of Health Care Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
"The New Health Economy is a primer for industry leaders in the postpandemic world."—Michael A. Mussallem, chairman and CEO, Edwards Lifesciences
"The New Health Economy reflects how important it is for health care leaders to understand the relationship between politics, health policy, delivery networks, and the consumer. The leaders who understand these forces will implement the changes in health care that will close the current gaps."—Mark E. Miller, executive vice president of health care, Arnold Ventures
"The transformation in American health care is happening now. Success will depend on effective leadership, management, and governance. Engaged and informed board members are critical as health systems, health insurers, and medical groups grow in scale and complexity. At the same time digitization and new entrants are upending what’s possible. They are changing the rules of the game with the resources to back it up. Board members and all emerging health care leaders will greatly benefit from the timely insights and hard-won knowledge shared in The New Health Economy."—John Koster, board member, Banner Health
"The New Health Economy is a rich source of insight into health care politics, policy, providers, and personalization that helps lift the fog to reveal a new framework for the future of health care."—Greg Carpenter, Harold T. Martin Professor of Marketing, Kellogg School of Management, Northwestern University
"With a special relevance for health care providers and consumers, governmental health care policy makers, American economists, The New Health Economy is an invaluable and comprehensive study. Exceptionally well written, organized and presented, The New Health Economy: Ground Rules for Leaders is highly recommended for personal, professional, community, and academic library collections."—Midwest Book Review
About the Author
Gary Bisbee Jr., PhD, MBA is founder, chairman, and CEO of Think Medium. He has held leadership positions spanning Wall Street, academia, and health policy. Prior to founding Think Medium, Bisbee was cofounder, chairman, and CEO of The Health Management Academy. He holds an MBA in health care and finance from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a PhD in chronic disease epidemiology from Yale University.
Donald Trigg is the former president of Cerner Corporation, a Fortune 500 supplier of health care information technology. Trigg has almost a decade of experience in Washington, DC, working at the highest levels of presidential politics and in a set of senior policy roles in both the legislative and executive branches.
Sanjula Jain, PhD is a health economist working with executives of large health systems and health care organizations, including Fortune 500 companies. She is the Chief Research Officer of Trilliant Health and on faculty at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She earned her PhD in health services research and health policy from Emory University.
