David Cutler

One of the nation’s most influential health economists, Dr. David Cutler is an opinion leader and sought-after advisor on health care – the economics and the innovation.

David Cutler was Senior Health Care Advisor to Barack Obama’s Presidential Campaign and served on the Council of Economic Advisors and National Economic Council under President Clinton. Cutler works closely with members of Congress, state governments, corporations and private interest groups to formulate strategies for health-care reform and has done pioneering research on the value of medical innovation and strategies to improve the return on our health care dollars. He is the author of Your Money Or Your Life: Strong Medicine for America’s Health Care System which was the subject of a feature article in The New York Times Magazine. He discusses with audiences the opportunities and challenges of health care reform, how the political process approaches reform and the implications of current public policies for businesses and individuals. Dr. Cutler focuses on value creation: taking a health care system that is haphazard in quality and too costly and focusing it on the core mission of value enhancement. He is currently the Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics at Harvard University and is a member of the Institute of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

What Health Care Reform Means for Businesses

Many businesses are wary of health care reform.  Yet health care reform presents opportunities as well as challenges.  Dr. David Cutler analyzes the opportunities and challenges that health reform will bring to business.  He highlights areas of underexploited value in health care, including chronic care management, administrative simplification, and care coordination.  Dr. Cutler shows the public and private sector opportunities associated with each of these areas and how smart businesses can exploit them.  He also highlights how the political process approaches reform, and the implications of current public policies for business.

The Value Proposition in Health Care – Can we Innovate our Way out of the Healthcare Crisis?

Building on his phenomenal academic career and extensive experience in health care policy, Dr. David Cutler presents a feasible, sustainable plan for health care reform in the United States.  Dr. Cutler focuses on value creation: taking a health care system that is haphazard in quality and too costly and focusing it on the core mission of value enhancement.  Dr. Cutler shows how this can be achieved through several key changes: improving the information flow in health care; aligning compensation systems so they reward better care, not just more care; and stressing organizational structures that lead to improved performance.  An architect of the Obama plan for health care, Dr. Cutler shows how public and private policies can further the value proposition in health care.