Redefining Health Care Porter Summary

Introduction
In his book, Redefining Health Care: Creating Value-Based Competition on Results Michael Porter outlines some of the fundamental issues in the American health care system that are contributing to rising health care expenses and insufficient care. Overtreatment, undertreatment, and medical errors are major issues that Porter claims are the result of lack of competition, and a healthcare system that is both too broad, and too narrow. These major issues are prominent in the delivery of obstetrics care, especially in the case of those who are of low income and minority populations. The overtreatment of women with normal pregnancies, undertreatment of those with high risk pregnancies, and medical errors are all contributors to higher infant and maternal mortality, lower birth weights among minorities, and ultimately worse health outcomes over the lifecourse. In order to begin to reverse these poor health outcomes, Porter advocates for a system that organizes providers into integrated practice units, and simplified billing over the entire cycle of care. Moreover, Porter emphasizes the need for competition …show more content…
These major issues are prominent in the delivery of obstetrics care, especially in the case of those who are of low income and minority populations. The overtreatment of women with normal pregnancies, undertreatment of those with high risk pregnancies, and medical errors are all contributors to higher infant and maternal mortality, lower birth weights among minorities, and ultimately worse health outcomes over the lifecourse. In order to begin to reverse these poor health outcomes, Porter advocates for implementing a system that emphasizes competition on results, and in which coordinated care through integrated practice units becomes the norm, not the