Harvard economist proposes team approach on healthcare

WASHINGTON -- A renowned Harvard economist unveiled a plan yesterday to revamp the US healthcare system by focusing on the value of care to patients, arguing that improving the quality of medical services can by itself save money and provide a road map to a national health plan. . . . The nation's healthcare system is using "21st-century technology delivered with a 19th-century system," Porter said. Medical care, he added, is "the only sector in our economy that has not undergone reconfiguration seen everywhere else."