Moving from 'Sick-care' to True Healthcare: Hank McKinnell, Chairman & CEO, Pfizer Inc, Issues A Call to Action
PRNewswire
NEW YORK
May 16, 2005
Hank McKinnell, one of the world's most influential corporate leaders, takes on the most pressing questions facing today's healthcare industry in his first book, A Call to Action: Taking Back Healthcare for Future Generations. (McGraw-Hill Professional; May 17, 2005; $27.95).
While McKinnell doesn't claim to have all the answers, the purpose of this book is to spark further dialogue on healthcare reform. In A Call to Action, McKinnell offers a compelling case for change, and a plan of action to make healthcare systems work for us, our children and all future generations
Is our healthcare system really in crisis? McKinnell's answer to this question may surprise you. While McKinnell agrees that there is a crisis, he believes that it is not in "healthcare"; rather he asserts that we have a crisis in our current system of "sick-care" -- a system that places far too much emphasis on the cost of healthcare versus the value of health. "What we have is a system the pays for procedures, not cures; interventions, not outcomes, transactions, not transformations," says McKinnell, "If we want to create a true 'Healthcare' system, we must focus our attention to education, disease prevention, early diagnosis and early intervention."
Through this groundbreaking and provocative book, McKinnell helps to reframe the dialogue on healthcare, arguing that the focus should be on the benefits of wellness to society. Referencing a report from Kevin Murphy and Robert Topel from the University of Chicago's Graduate School of Business, McKinnell points out that the power of disease prevention and wellness could translate into as much as $17 trillion in added economic benefits over the life spans of Americans living today.
The thought-provoking concepts that McKinnell puts forth in A Call to Action are generating praise from both political and corporate leaders who find themselves on the front lines of the tough healthcare decisions facing us today. Governor Mark Warner of Virginia states, "It will take a genuine partnership among citizens, employers, and government to make real, commonsense reform happen. Hank McKinnell deserves a lot of credit for starting the discussion." Jeffrey R. Immelt of General Electric adds "A Call to Action offers concrete steps for executives and citizens to take responsibility for improving quality and easing the cost of healthcare." And Governor Mitt Romney of Massachusetts asserts, "Everyday, American families wrestle with spiraling healthcare costs. We need more straight shooters like Hank McKinnell to focus public attention on preventative measures that save both dollars and lives."
Some of the hard-hitting questions McKinnell addresses in A Call to Action include:
* How can we build a true, prevention-based approach to employee
healthcare?
* Why have pharmaceutical companies lost trust, and what do they need to
do to regain it?
* Why do Americans pay more for prescription drugs than people in Canada
and Europe?
* How can competition spur the healthcare industry to improve services and
contain prices?
* How can new technologies reduce medical errors and improve the dialogues
between patient and doctor?
* How can we ensure that the world's best researchers win the battle
against the world's most insidious virus?
* How can we take more responsibility for our own health?
McKinnell also assesses the global challenge of infectious disease, particularly the pandemic of HIV. He demonstrates why this pandemic - the worst in human history -- is beyond the scope of governments acting alone - and how, even in the face of devastating global catastrophes, public-private partnerships can deliver real hope. To further the battle against the HIV/AIDS, McKinnell is donating all of the proceeds from this book to the Alliance for Healthcare in Africa (http://www.academicalliancefoundation.org/), which funds the Infectious Disease Institute, in Kampala, Uganda. Through private-public partnerships, Pfizer helped to establish this non-profit regional treatment and training center. The goal of this facility is to strengthen local capacity in HIV/AIDS care by training healthcare professionals from all over Africa, and by providing the latest standards of care and treatment to thousands of patients each year.
A Call to Action provides hope that the healthcare crisis can be brought under control. Sick-care systems can be changed to put patients over payers. Distilling more than 30 years of experience in global healthcare, McKinnell provides concrete action steps to build cost-effective, inclusive healthcare that he believes can extend millions of lives and save billions of dollars over the next generation.
Hank McKinnell will be discussing A Call to Action at the "Morning Newsmaker" news conference at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, May 17, at the National Press Club, located at 529 14th St. NW, Washington, D.C.
Hank McKinnell joined Pfizer Japan in 1971 and, in 2001, was named the twelfth chairman in Pfizer's 156-year history. McKinnell's illustrious career at Pfizer spans four decades and has brought him from a country manager position in pre-revolutionary Iran to leadership of the world's largest pharmaceutical company. Along the way, he received accolades for both his leadership ability and business acumen. In 2003, McKinnell was honored with the United Nations Association of America's Global Leadership Award and, in 2004 he was counted among America's most powerful business leaders by Fortune magazine.
SOURCE: McGraw-Hill Professional
CONTACT: Audra Berman
212-593-5851
David Thalberg
212-593-5875