CEO Blog: More Disruption in Health Care

The new health care partnership among Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase is just the latest ripple in a series of shifts and realignments shaking the health care industry.

Below are some comments I offered to a number of media outlets that reported on the news:

These announcements no longer come as a surprise to me. Health care insurance and delivery are ripe for disruption and, frankly, I welcome it.

Traditional health care is too expensive and not as service-oriented as it should be. Most efforts at improving just dance around the edges. There are reasons for this.

Health care in general and hospitals in particular are far too regulated, which stifles innovation. And our long-standing cultures take a very long time to change. New entrants, particularly in the insurance and ambulatory space, are able to innovate much faster as they don't have to change the old structures and culture.

So, it might be this disruption that enables both changes in regulation and the impetus to change the traditional structures more quickly.

Scripps is pushing change right now more than we ever have before, and I see an alignment with our physicians, nurses and staff like I've never seen before.

I think the external disruption is helping us change more quickly ourselves.