Renegotiating health care. Interview by Richard L. Reece

Richard L. Reece, MD, interviewed Leonard Marcus, PhD, on May 21, 1999, to talk about his book, Renegotiating Healthcare, Resolving Conflict to Build Collaboration, and the Program for Healthcare Negotiation and Conflict Resolution he directs at the Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Marcus discusses conflict management and negotiation in an industry besieged by change . He says, "we are, in effect, renegotiating the very assumptions and premises that have guided the health care system over the last few decades." In such a turbulent environment, it is crucial that all stakeholders can move to higher ground and resolve their differences instead of escalating the war. The key, Marcus says, is providing options through interest-based negotiation and mediation, so that the parties can look at the bigger picture and reconnect with what they are all committed to accomplishing in health care. While conflict can be destructive, it also can provide opportunities for people to look at where there are problems, to identify and correct those problems, and achieve something even better than what they began with through the process.