Health Affairs, 27, no. 5 (2008): 1353-1356 doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.27.5.1353 © 2008 by Project HOPE	New Online   House Health Reform Bill   Paying for Reform   Vetting AHIP's Report   HIV/AIDS Costs   Brief: Insurance Reform   HA Blog Top 10

This Article Full Text (HTML) Reprint (PDF) Submit a response to this article Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when Comments are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Services E-mail this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to My Personal Archive Download to Citation Manager Reprints & Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Robinson, J. C. Articles by Smith, M. D. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Robinson, J. C. Articles by Smith, M. D. Related Collections Health Reform Legal/Regulatory Issues Business Of Health Research And Technology Health Spending

Perspectives

PERSPECTIVE

Cost-Reducing Innovation In Health Care

Ever-increasing health care costs undermine expansions in health insurance coverage. Debate about lowering unit costs tends to focus on reducing payment levels for existing products and providers, but such measures are not likely to succeed, given established overhead costs and income expectations. Instead, moderation in health care spending must be sought in new products and processes that use lower-cost materials, staff, equipment, and sites of care. We give examples and sketch the principal regulatory, payment, insurance, and policy design obstacles to the further development and diffusion of cost-reducing innovations.

                      What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				M. D. Smith and M. A. Laws The Geographic Accessibility of Retail Clinics for Underserved Populations--Invited Commentary Arch Intern Med, May 25, 2009; 169(10): 951 - 953. [Full Text] [PDF]