We Need More IT!

Business men (and women) love to solve problems. There is a solution for every ailment in America's medical record. It's very popular in the for-profit business community to shout for business solutions to America's health care problems. One of the more popular suggestions, as you'll find in today's WSJ, is a call for greater utilization of information technology.

There have been other industries that have been slow to integrate information technology and all the great possibilities it entails, but no industry has been more resistant than health care. We complain about quality of care problems, integration of data issues, and any other excuse to combat the barrage of IT ideas.

Well here is the ultimate excuse that will quiet the argument of any MBA out there. There isn't enough money for it! No other industry in the world has margins that are controlled by the government as much as healthcare. For example, here in Maryland hospitals were able to increase their rates for a few years to help them to recapitalize. Only one thing went wrong, government regulators looked at the profit increases and decided that hospital profits were too large. This left many hospitals with huge debt loads and a lack of cash flow to fund them.

Give that one a try with your local MBA.