Health care cost containment: a contradiction in terms?

For about three decades health care costs have been growing at a seemingly uncontrollable rate. Health care costs have in some years grown at two to three or more times the rate of so-called "normal" inflation. The causes of this cost inflation are many and varied, although a number of the industry's participants tend to blame each other for much of the problem. The primary reaction to escalating costs has been regulatory pressure brought to bear on providers with the intent of forcing the health care system to function on reduced or controlled financial resources. Health care cost containment promises to be a major concern for the foreseeable future, and the individual department manager will continue to be called upon to exercise cost-conscious management at the hands-on working level where so many resource, are applied.