Ceci Connolly Outlines Healthcare Spending Management and Necessary Innovations

By using the available evidence, data, and facts surrounding healthcare spending, we can begin conversations on necessary innovations, said Ceci Connolly, BA, president and chief executive officer of Alliance of Community Health Plans.

Transcript

How do we reconcile that different stakeholders have different priorities when it comes to spending? For instance, payers and providers might have different ideas on what is an acceptable tradeoff.

Well, when you’re talking about industry players or government, it’s very important that facts and the evidence are the first approach that’s taken. There’s plenty of data when it comes to healthcare and science that tells us many of the right things to do or the smart investments to make—that’s a good place for everyone to start the conversation. Certainly, we get into more personal considerations—different patients for instance thinking about what quality of life means to them and whether or not they want to have extreme measures near the end of life. That kind of conversation can occur between a patient and their doctor, clinical team, family members; but, when we’re starting up with the big-ticket items, let’s start first with evidence, data, and facts.

What should conversations about healthcare spending be like? What needs to be considered and who needs to be a part of them?

Healthcare spending in the United States is big—it’s more than $3 trillion or about 18 percent of the economy today, and everyone has a stake in it. So, it’s important that literally everyone in the nation has a chance to think about a lot of the tough tradeoffs that come in healthcare spending, but the first place that I would suggest that we start is looking at a lot of the waste, unnecessary and low-value care because that’s probably $300 million a year that we could save without really forcing the tough choices that are going to come later.