DELOITTE ESTIMATES ITS PLAN CAN SAVE HEALTHCARE $530B

Consulting firm Deloitte LLP said that U.S. healthcare spending could be cut by half a trillion dollars over 10 years if the industry would adopt changes such as using electronic prescriptions and relying on drugs and procedures proven to work best. Deloitte proposed $220 billion in new spending upfront over three years on efforts such as getting doctors to use e-prescribing and electronic medical records, as well as better coordination of patient care through primary-care doctors. The savings, it said, could be $530 billion within 10 years. "We're including improving health status and improving quality and not just taking an ax to costs,"
Paul Keckley, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, said.
(Source: Reuters, January 15)