“America’s healthcare delivery system has just moved from a tipping point to a breaking point, thanks to COVID, so the time is now perfect to reform and rebuild our dysfunctional system – and it is already underway,” says Dr. Daniel Sem, dean of the Batterman School of Business.
In his book, Purple Solutions: A bipartisan roadmap to better healthcare in America, Sem and a team of 20 experts offer solutions to fix America’s broken healthcare system and provide a roadmap to implement the changes that are now underway for transformational reform.
The title Purple Solutions is a symbolic combination of the colors
that represent America’s two main political parties and their opposing beliefs about how to provide healthcare in America. Those on the Democratic (“blue”) side of the aisle advocate for a single-payer system paid for by the government. Under this ideal are a range of opinions from “Medicare for All” to supporting and expanding the Medicare system to allow for private provider additions. On the Republican (“red”) side of the aisle, supporters favor a free market system and believe that market forces, not the government, will fix the current system.
“I believe we need some sort of competitive market to foster innovation and produce realistic pricing and value in what everyone agrees is an incredibly complex system of services,” says Sem. “I also believe we need some sort of safety net to protect the poor as well as all of us against catastrophic events.”
Sem conceived this book on the premise that a combination of both sides is the solution to true healthcare reform and is calling on consumers to become more informed and to take action. During this important election year, and as we continue to navigate COVID-19, there is heightened urgency to his message.
“I’m hoping to facilitate a bipartisan discussion where there can be responsible compromise on both sides of the aisle to get to a real bipartisan proposal,” says Sem. “And, we as healthcare consumers need to take ownership of our own healthcare, instead of relying on a system to take control. We should stop being passive bystanders in the once paternalistic world of healthcare, that has devolved into a system that is designed to inflate prices and benefit an ever-growing medical industrial complex.”
When Sem first proposed the book over a year ago, a few of the more revolutionary ideas, such as telehealth, deregulation, and price transparency, were introduced as concepts to be explored farther down the road. The COVID-19 pandemic abruptly changed everything. Healthcare systems, providers, researchers, consumers, and patients had to adapt quickly to fight and treat the devastating virus and make way for rapid prevention and cure discoveries. What is emerging post-COVID, if we let it, will be a more efficient and patient-centered healthcare delivery system.
Contributors include the former president of the American Medical Association, policy and think tank leaders, healthcare executives, entrepreneurs looking to disrupt the current medical industrial complex, politicians, payers, providers and legal experts.
The launch of Purple Solutions is highly anticipated. Here is a review from Cynthia A. Fisher, life sciences entrepreneur and Founder and Chairman of Patient Rights Advocate.org:
"Like the shot heard round the world, Dan Sem fires a bold and brave wake-up message that every American needs to hear. He not only exposes the oppressive healthcare cartel and their unchecked greed, but, more important, also provides the rest of us a nonpartisan path out, one paved with price transparency and healthy competition, and lit with a healthy dose of sunshine." • Cynthia A. Fisher, life sciences entrepreneur and Founder and Chairman of Patient Right Advocate.org.
“Like the shot heard round the world, Dan Sem fires a bold and brave wake-up message that every American needs to hear. Addressing the biggest problem the U.S. economy faces — the excessive, burdensome cost of healthcare — Sem delivers a voice of sanity and reason amid the corrupt and needlessly complex. He not only exposes the oppressive healthcare cartel and their unchecked greed, but, more important, also provides the rest of us a nonpartisan path out, one paved with price transparency and healthy competition, and lit with a healthy dose of sunshine. Purple Solutions advances a healthcare revolution whose time is now.”
“There’s a healthcare revolution happening right now and people don’t event know it,” says Sem. One example Sem cites is the rapidity in which vaccines are being developed and tested. “The FDA is working closely and nimbly with research and development companies. They are doing things in parallel to keep the process moving without cutting corners. It’s a remarkable and efficient public and private relationship that didn’t exist before COVID, and is an example of the government removing barriers while still keeping patients safe. Similar regulatory changes are occurring to facilitate remote delivery of healthcare using telemedicine, and giving patients more control over their medical records.”
Sem is hopeful that this model of efficiency will set a new example for public and private entities to work together for better healthcare outcomes in the future. Beyond COVID, Purple Solutions is packed with information and solutions that could transform the way all Americans view and obtain healthcare. The book will officially launch at the fourth annual Healthcare Economics Summit, an effort of Concordia’s Batterman School of Business and the Remedium eXchange Think Tank. All registered guests will receive a free copy. The book is available on Amazon.
MORE LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES
- Listen to the Purple Solutions podcast. Dr. Sem kicks off the Purple Solutions podcast with an interview with Dr. Steve Klasko. Listen on iTunes, Anchor.fm or on Spotify.
- Register for the FREE afternoon telehealth session on July 31. Extend your learning on July 31 by registering for a free afternoon session, titled “Telehealth in a Post-COVID World: The Future of Healthcare—Accelerated.” The afternoon session runs from 12-4:30 p.m. and will again freature Steven Klasko, as well as other leaders in the area of telehealth. REGISTER HERE.
- Reserve a copy at Concordia’s Rincker Memorial Library (After July 1). For more information visit here.
— Lisa Liljegren is vice president of marketing and strategic communications.
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