Affordability: A Critical Issue at the Heart of Human Experience

Affordability is a human experience issue. One that reaches well beyond the edges of healthcare. In our current global economy, rising costs dominate the headlines. They weigh heavily on the pocketbooks of families around the world. Affordability may be no more prevalent than in healthcare. It too is the place where it may have the most significant and lasting impact.If we are willing to think of affordability as an experience issue, we can begin to address the solution in new ways. But it will require untangling years of wiring of how healthcare has operated to rewire what it can be. This isn't simply getting the typical players in the room to play nice. It requires a new set of voices, led by the people healthcare serves, to rethink what healthcare can and ultimately should be. This will take innovators from outside typical healthcare workflows. It will take seasoned leaders who always knew the answer, but the system always fought back. It will take the voices of patients, families, and healthcare consumers to co-design a process that enables us to address this critical issue.While this is not a roadmap for all our next steps, it is a call to reconsider how we think about healthcare overall. How we understand we are an experience ``industry'' that is committed to high-quality, safe outcomes, delivered in healthy, vibrant cultures, that lift up our communities and care for the people around us. That commitment is not just a philosophy; it is an economic strategy. One that if we put affordability at the heart of the experience conversation can only lead us to better things. The question is now who will step up to act, who will show up to talk, who will be willing to give up their stake for a stake in something new. It is time to get started. We all know we can no longer wait.