A gathering in Durham today marks the launch of the Duke Institute for Health Innovation. Leaders in healthcare, education and government will participate in the 'Summit on Transformative Innovation in Health Care.'
Dr. Krishna Udayakumar is the head of global innovation for Duke Medicine. He says a twenty year program in India that reduced the cost of cataract surgery to just $20 is one example of the kind of innovation the institute wants to highlight.
"As opposed to several thousand dollars which is the general cost in the U.S. or the U.K. and they've proven that they can do this at the same level of quality that we would expect in the U.S. or the U.K. using principles such as task shifting so you don't have to have the most highly qualified surgeon to do cataract surgery," says Udayakumar.
Udayakumar says the institute will focus on long-term challenges facing the U.S. and other nations including cost, quality and access to care.