Who will set price and quality standards?

Did you know Health & Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has a blog?

It's a pretty good blog, in that it's evident he writes it himself, and in it deals with issues on a personal basis. For instance, he did a series of posts on a recent trip to Vietnam which are well worth reading.

But I'd like to focus instead on two issues covered since that trip, in setting price and quality standards in health care.

Leavitt thinks single price health care is a good thing. I don't. I prefer transparent pricing with sound, third-party indications of quality attached.

Leavitt calls this value driven health care, and he likes it, too. He is looking toward industry for standards, however, on which to measure quality and (thus) value.

This, unfortunately, is too much like putting wolves in charge of hen house design for my taste.

But here again, Leavitt surprises and offers sound comprimises. As to who should set these standards he mentions fairly responsible groups like the National Quality Forum, the AMA Physician Consortium, the Ambulatory Quality Alliance and Hospital Quality Alliance.

It saddens me that thoughtful commentaries like this usually come from top government managers only at the end of a Presidential Administration, when the end is in sight and they can let their hair down, maybe go off the reservation.

But perhaps this can be an opportunity. If rather than locking positions in stone both parties' health advisors used this time to consult with the other side, it's just possible we could come out with solutions that have a chance to work, not just sell.