In recent decades, the health care industry has made remarkable progress in the understanding, detection and treatment of disease, primarily thanks to technological advancements, yet despite this abundance of new testing and treatment methods — or perhaps because of it — the cost of health care has skyrocketed, while over the same period general price inflation has been tame. The question remains: Are we really getting the full value for what we’re paying?

The current healthcare system is built around paying for treatment. A good doctor is reimbursed the same as a bad one. But an alternative is to consider paying for outcomes. What someone gets paid should be based upon the result — did the patient improve? By how much? How is it measured? And what did it cost?

The challenge of course is that this is an enormously difficult chasm to cross with hurdles in information, analytics, technology, and incentives. So what are the hurdles?

You can read J.T’s full VentureBeat post here.