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Health care is in the air

Published: Nov 04, 2009

 Consulting       

Health care change is looming. We read about it every day in the news, everyone's talking about it on the street, and yet no one knows exactly what form it will take. A proposal is thrown out there one day, and by the next it's taken on a different shape. A nip here, a tuck there—we know change is coming, but it may come out looking like Joan Rivers. But that's neither here nor there.

Look into any uncertain issue, and you'll find a team of consultants churning away. So it came as no surprise when Accenture announced its recently launched innovation centers in London and Chicago to develop strategies to address today's most pressing global health concerns. Among other issues, the Accenture Innovation Center for Health will aim to improve the performance of health care systems, address the impact of health care reform in various countries, and examine electronic medical records and payer and provider issues.

Accenture has solid footing in the pharmaceutical/health care consulting space, and in June 2009 created a new health and public service group—the Accenture Institute for Health & Public Service Value—under which the new innovation centers will operate. The unit combines all of the firm's existing public service offerings with its health and life sciences group. Accenture has consistently placed in Vault's pharmaceutical/health care practice area ranking, and this year came in at No. 9.

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