Addressing the many gaps and issues facing our nation’s health care system is, in some ways, as big a challenge as we faced in working to put a man on the moon in the 1960s. As a nation, we met the challenge issued by President Kennedy by creating a truly exceptional partnership between the federal government and private industry to build the space program.

During a recent speech at a summit on Innovation in Aging Care, I talked about how the Apollo missions succeeded because the space program was built on this fundamentally strong public-private partnership, focused on a clear and measurable goal – a man on the moon by the end of the decade. The people in government and industry each knew full well they could not do this on their own. It could only be achieved by working together.

In the end, it wasn’t the rocket, software or any individual element that enabled America to put the first human being on the moon. It was dynamic, non-siloed integration – from NASA’s program leadership to industry’s technological expertise – that helped us to take one giant leap for all mankind.

Fast forward to today. What can we do to take one giant leap for our country when it comes to health?

Partnership Elements

As we embark on a new era in health care, we must ask ourselves – state, federal government and industry – what can we do to strengthen our public-private partnerships for the future?

Here are three elements – some of which are based on direct experience – that I believe are critical to building successful public/private partnerships that will help address many of our nation’s health care challenges. While this by no means covers everything we need to address to build these partnerships, I think it can serve as a starting point for a discussion that will move us forward.

• Dedication – History shows us that new public/private ventures can sometimes face initial obstacles. The Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit experienced growing pains when first introduced in 2005. There were technical problems in the beginning and some initial confusion among consumers about the program. Today, about 32 million Americans participate in and are truly satisfied with the program. Government, Humana and others never gave up and spent a lot of time educating people about plan choices and options.
• Innovation – We must foster a climate of innovation between government and industry that overcomes barriers and doesn’t believe in using words like “impossible” to justify a decision against trying a new approach. Medicare Advantage, which provides health coverage to nearly 15 million Americans through Humana and others, is constantly challenged to find more efficient ways to improve health with smaller investment. The program’s continued growth year after year is reflective of its spirit of innovation and commitment to perseverance in the face of adversity and setbacks. Our partnership must encourage all involved to take risks for the greater good.
• Information – Our partnership must support a new level of connectivity that safeguards a patient’s privacy and ensures doctors have a complete and up-to-the-minute picture of a patient’s medical condition. Wouldn’t you want your ER or urgent care physician to have the same understanding of your health?

We face some serious health challenges, from unsustainable costs to an unhealthy, sedentary nation. In addition to meeting these challenges (and I believe we will), there is an important question we need to ask ourselves:

• What do we hope to learn from solving these challenges and how will we use this new knowledge to solve the next series of challenges?

Health care will look very different in the year 2020 than it does now, and it would be wrong to assume we know with complete certainty how it will evolve. It’s important for our public-private partnership to acknowledge that we shouldn’t expect to have all the answers.

An Amazing Time

At Humana, we believe that each and every one of us has a moral responsibility and obligation to address the challenges facing our health care system.

Despite the short term challenges we’ve faced, it’s an exciting time to be involved in health care. We have an amazing opportunity to help our nation achieve better health. There will be bumps in the road, but they’re meant to test our resolve and overcoming them together with government will ultimately strengthen our partnership.

The public and the private sectors have a long and proud history of coming together to use the power of innovation to make us stronger, safer and more prosperous.

The time has come to do so again.

Photo: fStop Images – Caspar Benson / Getty Images