Health care reform a two-step process

“We are proving to the world it can be done,” George Halvorson, chief executive officer  and president of Kaiser Health Plan and Hospitals, told the delegates in the opening plenary session this morning (March 13). Proving, that is, that quality health care can be delivered at lower costs. Halvorson, who gave the delegates an update on health care reform, cited Kaiser Permanente’s electronic health care record—which allows the continuity of care that is especially critical when treating patients with chronic conditions—as one of the key factors that puts KP in a very favorable position in the changing marketplace.

Halvorson expressed optimism that a health care reform bill will be passed shortly by Congress and signed by President Obama. He acknowledged that the version taking shape isn’t perfect and is more about insurance reform than care reform—but said that this is an important starting place. It’s a two-step process, he said: Once insurance reform has been addressed, we can move on to care reform. “Let’s get that bill done,” he said, “and move on from here.”