Top seven health industry trends in '07

We all know that our health system is ailing. Health industry leaders widely acknowledge that rising costs and unequal access threaten system sustainability, and they point to fixes such as increased transparency of quality and pricing information and health information technology.

Consumers have slightly different thoughts about what's driving the system to the brink of sustainability: greed. Perhaps consumers are angry and frustrated. Perhaps they do not appreciate the complexity of healthcare as a business—facing issues of administrative paperwork, medical malpractice, and the uninsured, to name a few.

PricewaterhouseCoopers' Health Research Institute has identified the "top seven health industry trends in '07" for health executives and policymakers in the coming year as they move their organizations forward and tackle problems facing the industry.