SZD Health Law Scan : Health Care Lawyers & Attorneys : Schottenstein Zox & Dunn Law Firm : Strategic Planning, Managed Care, Insurance : Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Central Ohio

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'Tis the season for new year predictions.  Desperate to report some good news, business writers appear to like the prospects for some health care stocks and for new jobs created in the health care sector of the economy.  But can H Street really overcome what's happening on Wall Street and Main Street?

Price Waterhouse Coopers in its advertising supplement to Modern Healthcare entitled "Top Nine Health Industry Issues in 2009: Outside Forces Will Disrupt the Industry" presents a somewhat guarded outlook.  The conclusion reached by PWC: "During 2009, the health industry may prove to be a source of profitable growth during an economic malaise.  As new players continue to enter the healthcare market and new technologies develop, the next frontier in healthcare could be hidden from view.  In addition, heightened focus by regulators will need to be monitored carefully as reducing healthcare costs are viewed as a way to stimulate the economy."   As PWC points out, three of the Top 100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare (AOL founder Steve Case, Google's Eric Schmidt, and Microsoft founder Bill Gates) have not traditionally been seen as captains of the healthcare industry.

Perhaps Americans should hope for some creative disruption by outsiders.  It is not as though healthcare insiders have proven particularly successful in prior reform efforts.  Next on the reading list, former Senator and HHS Secretary nominee Tom Daschle's book Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis.   SZD Health Law Scan will report on that soon.