BOUNTIFUL — Complex relationships, resource consumption and utilization verses payments make fixing the current healthcare situation not so simple.

According to Rand Kerr, current CEO of Lakeview Hospital, the Obama administration has a problem on its hands as far as the healthcare system is concerned. However, Kerr said he also agrees with what President Barack Obama has said in making healthcare part of the economic recovery. He talked with Bountiful Rotarians last week about the affect this complex system is currently having on itself and the economy.

“The healthcare system is the most complex of any we’ve ever attempted to manage,” said Kerr, quoting Peter Druker.

Kerr named the complex relationships between buyers, sellers and consumers of healthcare as the main reason the entire system will not be so easy to fix. This system begins when a patient chooses a doctor, who chooses a hospital, who has to go through insurance. In the end, the patient is not the only customer to the hospital.

The next added complication to the healthcare system is the resource consumption mixture. People on Medicare use more than 30 percent of healthcare services, but pay only about 20 percent of the costs. In contrast, private insurers utilize just more than 30 percent of the services while paying 50 percent of the cost. Kerr said the fact of the matter is that 70 percent of the factors influencing health are controllable.

Only 10 percent of the factors that influence health are directly related to medical care. Lifestyle is 50 percent and environment is 20 percent. The last 20 percent comes from biology. Lifestyle and environment are the two things people have almost total control over.

Kerr said, however, that 11 percent of the population is currently consuming 99 percent of the costs of health care. “A lot has to with the cost of growing old,” he said.

Because of these relationships, Kerr told Rotarians that in 2008, one third of the hospitals around the country were in the red financially. The other two thirds are split between being right on the line and being solid.

“Any reform will be costly,” said Kerr.

He suggested that what a solid healthcare system needs to do is leave no one uncovered, no longer be a burden on businesses, promote and reward good health and hold everyone responsible. “We can create a solution,” he said.

sroberts@davisclipper.com