" At the same time, ABC is ambitious, which is why it doesn’t want to simply hire a hard-nosed executive who can be aggressive at the negotiating table. The goals here are much bigger than just reducing a corporate line item. That’s why the choice of Gawande to run ABC might well turn out to be an inspired one. Gawande has made it his life’s mission to improve people’s health while keeping costs low, and he deserves an enormous amount of credit for being able to successfully navigate the notorious internal politics of two different Boston institutions in order to achieve that outcome at Ariadne. Clearly, he’s more than capable of managing up, even when he has multiple bosses who work for entirely separate institutions."

A mid-item quote is headlined above, taken from a Slate analysis of the Bezos-Buffet-Dimon private sector healthcare experiment; with what amounts to a large scale proof of concept. If it works. And it should. Quality leadership with greed held in relative abeyance, why would it not be better than the near-worthless status quo of greed ruling?

UPDATE: The item's ending paragraph:

Gawande’s job is not going to be easy, and there’s a real chance he won’t succeed. American health care is a mess, after all, and it has defeated thousands of well-intentioned individuals in the past. But he’s coming in with an enormous tail wind of goodwill, as well as the explicit backing of two of the three richest men in America. He’s seen the system from the inside, he’s seen how broken it is, and he’s seen what works.

Dimen's backing puts Wall Street into the brew, which cannot hurt effort backed by two of the richest. Wouldn't you trade fortunes with Dimen, even if his estate is less than that of Bezos or Buffet? This effort shows more promise than the folks Mike Hatch had to slap upside the head, back a few years ago, where they did not like it. Hatch even being a better man than who he lost the governor election to, was simply not as well positioned as Gawande, nor as grounded in exceptionally gifted Boston med professionals. At least pill pushing and fifteen minute primary care blood draws and urine sampling goes to a lab of whatever quality and diligence, and pill adjustments may or may not ensue. There has to be something better than that at a more reasonable cost. There's room for an advancement; price-benefit based, and otherwise.

Big Pharma: Cleaning up a drug cartel is cleaning up a drug cartel, be it one dealing in illegal substances or in licensed and lobbied price gouging.

___________UPDATE____________
Does this story ring a bell?

FURTHER: Note the authorship.