When I meet with policymakers to talk about healthcare, I remind myself that it is much easier to address the myriad of problems plaguing treatment and care delivery methods than it is to define the solutions. There are no quick fixes, and oftentimes the free-market ideas we propose are complicated and controversial.
That is certainly the case when we talk about the critical importance of all-payers claims databases (APCDs), which have proved to be valuable resources for all healthcare purchasers. APCDs give us a broader set of data to compare performance and cost between providers and care settings – a cornerstone of free market healthcare that could make a real difference in the prices we pay for healthcare services.
