SPOTLIGHT: Centralizing services a cure-all?


To improve the healthcare delivery system, build centralized clinical teams and give patients a one-stop shopping experience, says a Harvard Business School strategist. Michael E. Porter, whose ideas appear today in an article the Journal of the American Medical Association, believes that, for example, a breast cancer patient should be able to see all of the relevant specialists they need in a single building on a single day. These physicians should then meet face to face promptly after they see the patient, Porter suggests. While the concept hasn't gained tremendous traction yet, the Cleveland Clinic and Dartmouth-Hitchcock are testing this approach. Article