According a new survey released by the national health policy institute, NEHI, innovation is being looked at as an important ingredient in solving the nation's healthcare problems.  While respondents to the NEHI survey, conducted in partnership with Ernst & Young, ranked access to care as the most important challenge in need of new thinking, they also said innovation is necessary to contain costs without cutbacks in coverage or services. 

NEHI is gathering health experts, including FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D., Chairman of the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System David Blumenthal, M.D. and advisors from the Obama and Romney presidential campaigns, at the NEHI Innovation Conference this week.

"The survey indicates we need innovative solutions to our healthcare challenges and access is at the top of the list for these new ideas," NEHI President Wendy Everett said in a statement.  "The survey suggests that neither supporters nor opponents of the Affordable Care Act are perceived as having seized the mantle of innovation regarding expanding access to care."

Forty-one percent of the survey’s respondents say access to health care is the most important challenge to address with an innovation solution.  Seventy-eight percent of respondents believe costs can be controlled if there are new ways to be more efficient in delivering health services.