A Sea-Change in Health Care?

In a June 30, 2009, interview with the Web site, Big Think, RWJF President and CEO Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, M.D., M.B.A., said that doctors and hospitals could improve quality by focusing on "outcomes," that is, helping people get better and stay well, rather than on "outputs," such as the procedures and pills prescribed.

She describes how the foundation is sponsoring more than a dozen pilots around the country, in a project called Aligning Forces for Quality, which asks those who get care, give care and pay for care to work together toward common objectives to promote quality.

This excerpt comes from a series about the future of health care co-produced by the Web site and MSNBC.