California Healthcare Institute Launches Final Podcast Episode on Dangers of a Cost-based U.S. Healthcare System

Business Wire, March 7, 2007

Podcast Urges Lawmakers to Choose Care over Cost in Healthcare Proposals

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The California Healthcare Institute (CHI) today launched the final episode of the podcast series, Cost Over Care: The Dangers of Bureaucratic Medicine. As state and federal legislators design their healthcare proposals, this podcast aims to educate policymakers about the dangers of cost-based healthcare initiatives. The five-part podcast series can be found on the California Healthcare Institute Web site, www.chi.org, and is accessible on iTunes and other podcast directories.

In the fifth and final episode, Dr. David Gollaher, president and CEO of CHI, urges state and federal policymakers to factor in individual patient differences, physician decision-making, and the need to provide incentives for future medical innovation into their healthcare proposals.

"Access to healthcare remains a central concern for many Americans," said Gollaher. "As healthcare stakeholders, policymakers and advocates we have a responsibility to find practical solutions to the problems of cost and affordable coverage. We cannot afford to compromise quality of care to balance our budgets."

Previous podcast episodes feature Dr. Kwabena Adubofour, medical director, East Main Clinic and Stockton Diabetes Intervention Center; Meryl Comer, Emmy-award winning journalist and caregiver; and Peter J. Pitts, co-founder and president of the Center for Medicines in the Public Interest and former FDA associate commissioner for external relations.

For more information about evidence-based medicine and cost-effectiveness analysis or to download podcast episodes, please visit the CHI Web site at www.chi.org. This series has been made possible through a grant from Pfizer Inc.

California Healthcare Institute (CHI) represents more than 250 leading biotechnology, medical device, diagnostics, and pharmaceutical companies, and public and private academic biomedical research organizations. CHI's mission is to advance responsible public policies that foster medical innovation and promote scientific discovery. CHI's web site is http://www.chi.org.