Ask the Expert: Karen Davenport on Modernizing Health Care

What would modernizing the health care system entail?

Overall, it means getting more value for what we put into the health care system, and I think there are three major parts of that. First is making investments in the infrastructure of our health care system, particularly around information so that doctors and patients make good decisions. Second is making sure that we have the right kind of payment incentives so that doctors and other health care providers get paid more when they provide better value--and by that I mean keeping people healthier. And then finally, to make sure that we have enough competition in our health care system so that we can keep prices down.

How quickly would health care modernization bring savings?

One long range estimate is that we'll save $550 billion over 10 years, and that's definitely dependent on making that upfront investment so that we can realize those savings. I think the sooner that we put the money we need into building the information infrastructure and get the work started on reforming our payment systems, the sooner we are going to see real savings.

How can the federal government promote health system modernization?

I think the federal government can do a couple of key things. One is something we've already gotten started, which is putting new incentives around hospitals and providers putting together health information technology systems that are really going to help, first of all, doctors and patients make the right decisions. And second to feed information into how we reform our payment systems. And then, the other piece, which has just gotten started, is to make investments in comparative effectiveness research so that we have a better understanding of which drugs, and treatments, and devices work best for a given health care problem.