Is New Enterprise the Answer to the Health Care Crisis?

As the health care debate wages on in Washington, one of the only things that seems clear is that whatever bill eventually gets passed is sure to be disappointing. As I've watched the debate, I've become more and more convinced that in the current political climate, the best we can hope for is a reform bill that reigns in the free-hand of insurers a bit. While I don't think that private social enterprise is the full answer, I do think that creative enterprises that realign incentives to make it better for companies to get people healthy (rather than charge them for being sick) have a big role to play.

In the last couple months, there has been an interesting conversation about innovative health care and promotion models and their status as "social enterprises." Jeff Trexler wrote a great post a while back basically pointing out that we might be failing to notice how much harder "social enterprise" is in practice than in theory, as embodied by the challenges of health care.

Largely speaking, the problem seems to come down in some ways to incentives. Insurers on the one side and health care providers on the other are locked in a tug of war for the limited dollars of the consumer, who ends up getting squished. Even in this strained environment, there are some interesting new ideas sprouting up - some from new actors, some from old - but all of which could serve as major elements in building a healthier, better serviced America.

The $59 billion giant Walgreens is one of the traditional corporations leading the charge for a new model of health. The Walgreens Health and Wellness division operates a network of in-store and in-office clinics that provide everything from basic care to x-rays and dental to more than 700 clients. The benefits for the businesses they service are less time lost from employees taking sick leave. The system is exploding, noted by a feature in Fast Company a few months ago called "Why Walgreens is Building its own Universal Health Care System."

It's not just giants that are getting in on the game. Last week at The Feast conference in New York, I had the chance to see a presentation by the founder of Hello Health, a social network approach to helping people navigate the health care value chain, communicating with everyone from a nurse to a specialist and quickly getting the advice and prescriptions - whether for medicine, behavior or environmental shifts - they need.

Like I said above, I don't think that these organizations - however big, customized, or innovative they are - are the answer alone. But as someone who is in that "unsinsured" column as I start a new company and who has some small but recurring medical expenses, the debate takes an entirely un-ideological turn as I have to look for the cheapest, most efficient way to get what I need.

What are other good examples of innovative private actors contributing to a healthier America?

(Photo: JasonTromm)