2008 Health Care Leader Forum: The Value Chain Approach—Maximizing Value
On April 14–15, 2008, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago and the Detroit Regional Chamber sponsored a forum examining the "value chain" perspective of health care delivery in the U.S. The program discussed how the value chain approach would lead to improvement in health care quality, reduction in costs, and increased user accessibility.
Our speaker at the evening reception on April 14, 2008, was Ron Gettelfinger, president of the United Auto Workers, UAW. In light of the new collective agreement of 2007, the UAW membership will become a recipient as well as a major provider and payer of health care services. We had a most interesting and thought-provoking evening, as Gettelfinger discussed the prospective issues that need to be addressed and the challenges that this new arrangement has created.
The featured speaker was Professor Elizabeth Teisberg who described how focusing on creation of value to the patient will create greater competition and efficiency in the health care delivery system. In addition, there were a series of speakers and panels that examined the value chain issue more closely from the prospective of the consumer, provider, regulator and, of course, the medical professional.