The Case for Healthcare
AOL founder Steve Case says he wants a revolution--in healthcare
Case brushes off concerns about his strategy, board, and timing. His portfolio, he says, is still in its formative stages. He plans to buy and build more banks of health information to fill in the gaps. "Clearly, there is more work to do," he says. "But over time, there will be more and more synergies." The board members are "the right team," he adds. "They are all smarter than me" and have plenty of healthcare experience. Colin Powell, for example, ran one of the nation's largest healthcare systems as chairman of the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff. Former executives such as Fiorina, Raines, and Netscape's Jim Barksdale all had to wrestle with health insurance problems.
Case remains steadfast in his belief that healthcare is an industry ripe for reform and that empowering consumers will be the best way to do it. He may be premature, but Case points out it took nine years to build up AOL into a million-member organization. Today, AOL has nearly 27 million members. "I am not naive about the complexity and challenges," Case says. "I want to build something to last, not to flip for money."
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