Leading the way: a conversation with HHS secretary Mike Leavitt. Interview by Leonard D. Schaeffer

In January 2005, Michael O. Leavitt was sworn in as the twentieth secretary of health and human services (HHS). The former three-term governor of Utah reveals how his management of HHS reflects his experiences managing private- and public-sector organizations. The discussion explores his perspective that using health information technology (IT) to modernize health care and create value must be done through collaboration, not government mandate. Secretary Leavitt says that new approaches based on linking reimbursement with results must be adopted incrementally, as more is learned about carrying out such approaches. But he also says that it is time to begin linking reimbursement with health IT adoption.