Innovative practices in other countries can help cut U.S. healthcare costs

Innovations originating from poor countries can help provide important answers to U.S. healthcare cost issues.  Aravind Eye Care does cataract surgery for $30, compared with as much as $1,000 in the rich world. Bangalore-based Narayana Hrudayalaya Hospital performs high-quality open-heart surgery for just $2,000, compared to upwards of $20,000 in the U.S. Partners In Health (PIH) provides high-quality, ultra low-cost home-based services to the sickest and most marginalized HIV/AIDS patients in the U.S. — based on innovations PIH originally developed in Rwanda. Clearly, doctors in India and Rwanda do not know anything more about the science of eye care or cardiac surgery or treating HIV/AIDS patients. But they do know how to deliver quality care at lower cost. By comparison, there is something highly inefficient about the health care delivery in the U.S. — and much to learn from poor countries.