Challenges and Opportunities of Health Care Reform in China and U.S.

The first, two-day “U.S.-China Health Summit” was held at Harvard Medical School’s Joseph B. Martin Conference Center. Over 500 health officials from China and the U.S. gathered to examine successful achievements and lessons learned in healthcare reforms around the world and to exchange information on their own efforts, in order to seek ways to extend access, improve quality, and lower the cost of care to their respective citizens. The conference opened with twin keynote addresses by Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Sherry Glied and Chinese Minister of Health Chen Zhu. Panel discussions touched on a range of topics, including what can be learned from other nations’ reform efforts, traditional Chinese medicine, chronic disease control, the role of information technology, the relationship between doctors and drug companies, and how best to achieve universal coverage at low cost.