But the real excitement for advocates of free-market strategies and demand-driven solutions came today when the main topic related to behavior change.  By meeting with employers who have had the direct experience of reducing their healthcare costs, and improving their worker productivity and company profitability through employee health initiatives, the president has signaled the importance of encouraging wellness and prevention through appropriate employer interventions.

With representatives from Johnson& Johnson, Pitney-Bowes, Safeway, Microsoft, REI, as well as the State of Ohio and the Hotel and Restaurant Employees International Union, President Obama listened to their stories and came through with a clear message to the nation:

"So what we've done here today is to gather together some of these stories and best practices to make sure that they are going to be informing the health care reform discussions that take place here in Washington.  There's no quick fix, there's no silver bullet.  When you hear what Safeway or Johnson & Johnson or any of these other companies have done, what you've seen is sustained experimentation over many years and a shift in incentive structures so that employees see concrete benefits as a consequence of them stopping smoking or losing weight or getting exercise, working with providers -- the provider incentives are aligned with the employee incentives as well, and changing the culture of a company."

This is precisely the sort of thinking that we need to be focused on as the Congress works through health reform planning.  Employers must be centrally involved, healthcare consumerism and consumer power needs to be recognized, personal responsibility should be leveraged, and in the end, a better between supply-side refinements and demand-side efforts can bring about new efficiencies and a healthier nation.

Frank Hone
Author, Why Healthcare Matters