Is the hospital becoming a real business ? Move to new value-based models inevitable

Escalating costs make new business model unavoidable
There is still no consensus about where hospitals should be positioned in the healthcare service spectrum of the future. However, it is widely accepted that relying wholly on growth in patient numbers, bed-days and on more expensive equipment, procedures and physicians has become untenable.
Some hospitals are enthusiastically embracing change. Many more remain cautious. Few however doubt that spiralling healthcare costs will force hospitals to be funded and operated via new business models, more akin to that of other economic sectors.

All things to all people, all the time
Innosight, a healthcare consultancy founded by Harvard Business School Professor Clay Christensen, puts the problem in perspective. In marked contrast to general hospitals, few organizations