ABSTRACT
Many health care systems today are not really “systems” at all.
They are fragmented, resulting in poorly coordinated patient care
and a lack of accountability for overall costs and quality. It’s
estimated this fragmentation costs the United States US$25 to
$50 billion annually [4]. The accompanying lack of transparency
into costs and quality makes it difficult to be an informed health
care services consumer. The US system further exacerbates these
problems through a reimbursement system that rewards volumes of
procedures, particularly major acute interventions, instead of value.