Consumer-driven health care will help quality, expert says.(Practice Trends)

WASHINGTON -- The trend toward consumer-driven health care would ultimately improve overall health care quality, Regina Herzlinger, Ph.D., said at a consensus conference sponsored by the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists.

Dr. Herzlinger, professor and chair of business administration at Harvard Business School, in Boston, contrasted the health care industry with the automotive industry. The automotive industry, which already is consumer-driven, is deflationary and features increasing product quality, lots of available product information, and widespread ownership.

The health care industry, on the other hand, is not consumer-driven and is characterized by inflation, unknown quality of care, and 46 million people who do not even have health insurance.

She noted that what helped the automotive industry along was the presence of entrepreneurs, who ended up being richly rewarded for their efforts. For instance, Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Co., created a new, less expensive form of steel from which to make cars. "Within a decade, car ownership went from 10,000 to 1 million," Dr. Herzlinger added.

Although Mr. Ford and other automotive industry pioneers were rewarded, innovation in health care is not well-rewarded, Dr. Herzlinger continuted at the meeting.

As an example, she cited the case of Ralph Snyderman, M.D., who came up with the idea of integrating the care of patients with heart failure by organizing health care teams. "In one year, he lowered the costs by 40%," Dr. Herzlinger explained.

And what was his reward for doing so? "He lost the entire savings, because the health care system does not pay for making sick people better. It pays for days in the hospital, for doctor visits, for components of care. So the healthier he made people, the fewer people went to the hospital, the fewer doctor visits there were, and the more money he lost. Right now, if you're a Henry Ford, you're punished, and we have very poor quality," she said.