My appeal to American business executives

Yesterday I published an open letter to executives in the WSJ regarding the status quo of the US healthcare system.  Here’s why.  It is my deeply held belief the United States has the best doctors, pharmaceutical treatments and health technology on the planet.  We have every advantage in healthcare and yet our system is fundamentally broken.  This status quo when it comes to healthcare has to change.   And this is something that we can do together.  We can change our system for the better.  We can fix it.   

With that in mind, I’d like to share my letter and encourage you all to take a moment to read it.

-Gio

The cost of the status quo is staggering.

American business knows how to solve problems.

But when it comes to the spiraling cost of healthcare, executives are at a loss.

U.S. companies spend more than $620 billion on healthcare annually, increasing at least 5 percent every year. Despite all this spend, we don’t have a healthier, more productive workforce: America ranks 44th in the world in health outcomes. We see this every day in the workplace: illness, days missed, lives shortened.

Healthcare is usually a top-three cost, but rarely a top-three area of focus. Why is that?

It’s because the healthcare industry has always been a black box that operates with a total lack of transparency. This has made it virtually impossible for employers to effectively manage healthcare investments, and for people to make consumer-based decisions, just like they do in every other area of their lives.

This is outrageous. It’s unsustainable. And no business in America can continue to accept this status quo. 

It’s time for each and every one of us to take control of enterprise healthcare – to get costs in check and to do it without skimping on quality or undermining employee health. It’s time for great healthcare that will build – not burden – great businesses. And now, for the first time, it’s possible.

But it means transforming the way things have always been done. We must embrace new enterprise healthcare technologies and practices, and revolutionize the way American businesses and their employees experience healthcare.

I have no doubt that American business can solve this problem and turn enterprise healthcare into a strategic advantage: free up resources to invest in innovation and new jobs, deliver great healthcare to our organizations’ biggest asset, our people.

Now – together – we must get it done.

Sincerely, 

Giovanni Colella, MD
Co-Founder & CEO
Castlight Health