A Prescription for Healthcare Transformation: IBM Study Outlines Course of Action for a Sustainable Healthcare Industry

A Prescription for Healthcare Transformation: IBM Study Outlines Course of Action for a Sustainable Healthcare Industry

Today IBM (NYSE: IBM) released a new study which indicates that many healthcare systems around the world will become unsustainable by 2015. The study highlights the need for public and private healthcare systems worldwide to reform how care is funded, delivered and evaluated in order to reduce costs, improve care and help nations remain competitive in a global economy. Conducted by the IBM Institute for Business Value, the global study, titled “Healthcare 2015: Win-Win or Lose-Lose?” presents a comprehensive overview of the current challenges faced by the healthcare industry and provides a roadmap for transformation.

While medical breakthroughs, dedicated professionals and the promise of genomics, regenerative medicine and information-based medicine have promising healthcare implications, the study concludes that the problems facing the industry will force fundamental change on healthcare within the coming decade.

The study chronicles the current problems such as rising health care costs and poor and inconsistent quality. It also highlights the trouble ahead as these factors combine with a fundamentally new environment that is driven by globalization, consumerism, demographic shifts, the increased burden of disease and expensive new technologies and treatments. Healthcare systems that fail to address this new environment will “hit the wall” or collapse, and require immediate and major forced restructuring — a lose-lose scenario for all stakeholders.

Read the complete Press Release