Both companies are members of the Center for Health Transformation (CHT), a think-tank founded by Gingrich in 2003 to develop a 21st Century Intelligent Health System.

Gingrich used the analogy of transportation to show why he thinks the current health care system can’t be fixed, but must be transformed. According to Gingrich, regardless of effort, time and money, it was never going to be possible to make a stagecoach that could traverse the country in seven hours. Instead, it was a totally new technology at the beginning of the 20th century—the airplane—that eventually made that goal a reality.

Qmedtrix, a leading specialty medical bill review company, and Kryptiq, which provides health care communications and secure messaging technologies, are two of the many organizations endeavoring to create a new health system which maximizes the use of technology.
Mr. Gingrich said he was thrilled to be working with the two companies because of the scale on which they are inventing new opportunities.

One of CHT’s long-term goals is to link providers, patients, services and resources together electronically in a secure and private environment. The 21st Century Intelligent Health System will optimize self-management, while reducing costs and increasing safety, according to Gingrich. He believes that personal intelligent health information and support should have the speed and accuracy of an ATM and online travel services like Travelocity and Expedia.com.

Ultimately, all Americans should have immediate access to accurate, timely information about their own health and health management needs and immediate access to provider support, according to Gingrich. They should be able to conduct blood and other tests at home and transmit the information to their doctors electronically. Individual-specific updates and information should be available related to the medications you take, your age and physical condition, even your DNA.

If such a system was in place, when recent research disclosed concerns about Vioxx, every current and past user could have been notified immediately.

A health system in which all medical records are electronic would be much safer. “Paper kills,” said Mr. Gingrich, who reported that 8,000 die annually because of medication errors. He has said in the past that 44,000-98,000 people die each year because of medical error, much of which he believes is due to lack of quick and accurate access to information.

Aviation safety should be the model in a transformed health system, according to Mr. Gingrich. “In aviation, best practice is minimum practice.”

“At some point, people will decide you want to be as safe in a hospital as you are in an airplane,” said Mr. Gingrich.

Mr. Gingrich believes that health transformation will come initially from the free market through developments by companies such as those involved in CHT. Legislation can only come about after new concepts are invented. “Only the past has lobbyists,” said Mr. Gingrich.

His favorite example of free market health care is modern dentistry. When dentists supported fluoridation, they put their own livelihoods at risk. Instead of going out of business, they continued to develop and bring to the market new ideas—braces, whitening, easily accessible X-rays—and ultimately increased their usefulness to patients.

“I’m going around the country telling people that in a time of science and technology in a free market, entrepreneurs will give you more choices with higher quality at lower costs,” he said.

About Qmedtrix
Qmedtrix is one of the nation's leading decision software firms specializing in medical bill review solutions and services, which address inaccurate and inappropriate charges. Qmedtrix offers a complete spectrum of services to support the efforts of its clients, which include self-insured corporations, health care companies, third-party administrators, state funds and insurance companies.

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