A few weeks back, the U.S. House of Representatives voted—for the 33rd time—to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The motion passed the House, but it will, of course, stop there. But the opposition to the ACA won't.
Seemingly moments after the law received the Constitutional seal of approval from the U.S. Supreme Court, opposing politicians went on the attack—lawmakers vowed to repeal it and governors threatened to ignore it. The irony here, at least from a management consultant's perspective, is that this may all be much ado about nothing.
The Supreme Court's ruling, controversial for sure, does little to impact the work that's already being done—and will continue to be done long into the future—by consultants. Sure, some healthcare compliance issues changed pretty dramatically on June 28, the day the Supreme Court unveiled its ruling. But ask almost anyone working in the healthcare sector, and they'll tell you most of this work has to be done, mandated or not.
Electronic medical records and computerized physician order entry, to name just a few, aren't going away. They can't be repealed. They can't be ignored. They are, and will remain, part of desperately needed healthcare reform.
UnitedHealth CEO Stephen Hemsley released a written statement prior to the Supreme Court's ruling indicating that his company, one of the largest insurers in the U.S., would abide by most of the major components of the ACA, even if the court ruled the law unconstitutional.
In our cover story this month, business writer Eric Krell puts healthcare under the microscope (or is stethoscope?) to dissect just where we are with an industry moving faster than most of us can keep up with, including healthcare lifers.
As Bain & Company's Julie Coffmann points out, healthcare companies are confronted with an integrated collection of "have-tos" and "want-tos." The Supreme Court's decision serves only to separate the two. Although in the end, even the "want-tos" will most likely become "have tos" in order to provide the best patient care possible.
And in the end, that's what all of this is about, right?
Right?
Joseph Kornik
Publisher & Editor-in-Chief
jkornik@consultingmag.com
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