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  • September 2011
  • Article
  • Harvard Business Review

How to Solve the Cost Crisis in Health Care

By: Robert S. Kaplan and Michael E. Porter
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:18
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Abstract

Existing health care costing systems have serious flaws that make it impossible to measure costs accurately at the individual patient and medical condition level. This gap has severely limited meaningful cost reduction throughout the system. The paper describes a new (for health care) approach that can accurately measure the costs incurred over the care cycle for a patient's condition. Combining this cost information along with the patient outcomes achieved reveals major opportunities for health care providers and third-party payers to transform the economics of delivering health care. We illustrate multiple ways for providers to drive costs out of the system while simultaneously improving the quality of care they deliver.

Keywords

Cost; Health Care And Treatment; Measurement And Metrics; Service Delivery; Outcome Or Result; Quality; Health Industry

Citation

Kaplan, Robert S., and Michael E. Porter. "How to Solve the Cost Crisis in Health Care." Harvard Business Review 89, no. 9 (September 2011): 47–64.
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About The Authors

Robert S. Kaplan

Accounting and Management
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Michael E. Porter

Strategy
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More from the Authors

    • February 2021
    • Faculty Research

    New England Baptist Hospital: Getting Paid for Value

    By: Robert S. Kaplan, Mary Witkowski, Toby E. Emanuel and Syed S. Shehab
    • February 03, 2021
    • Harvard Business Review Digital Articles

    Reimagining the Balanced Scorecard for the ESG Era

    By: Robert S. Kaplan and David McMillan
    • February 2021
    • NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery

    Health Care Measurements That Improve Patient Outcomes

    By: Robert S. Kaplan, Lara Jehi, Clifford Y. Ko, Andrea Pusic and Mary Witkowski
More from the Authors
  • New England Baptist Hospital: Getting Paid for Value By: Robert S. Kaplan, Mary Witkowski, Toby E. Emanuel and Syed S. Shehab
  • Reimagining the Balanced Scorecard for the ESG Era By: Robert S. Kaplan and David McMillan
  • Health Care Measurements That Improve Patient Outcomes By: Robert S. Kaplan, Lara Jehi, Clifford Y. Ko, Andrea Pusic and Mary Witkowski
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