Special: George Halvorson Interview

Big Think conducted a special interview today with George Halvorson, CEO of Kaiser Permanente. As the world’s largest nonprofit health plan and hospital system, Kaiser Permanente is a micro-healthcare system unto itself. As CEO, Halvorson has a uniquely commanding perspective on the challenges America faces in its current healthcare crisis. Throughout this year, Halvorson has emerged as a leading voice on the issue, crusading to eliminate the price differential for healthcare costs between America and other countries. In a previous interview with Big Think, Halvorson outlined his ideal healthcare system and revealed how his own company balances massive size with enviable efficiency.

Halvorson’s reform impulse extends beyond America; he has also advised numerous other countries on health policy issues, including Great Britain, Russia, and Uganda.

In addition to his role at Kaiser Permanente, Halvorson chairs the International Federation of Health Care Plans and serves on the Institute of Medicine Task Force on Evidence Based Care, the Commonwealth Commission for a High Performing Health System, and the American Hospital Association’s Advisory Committee on Health Care Reform. His most recent book is “Health Care Will Not Reform Itself: A User’s Guide to Refocusing and Reforming American Health Care,” published by Productivity Press in May 2009.