Set against the angst one reads in the popular press about the dismal state of US healthcare, there are glimmers that productive change is beginning to take place. Hospitals are facing up to productivity and safety problems and doctors are not walking away from Medicare and Medicaid. Patients are experimenting cautiously with consumer directed health plans and some are even starting to save for their future needs. Drug prices are being held in check in many, but not all places. Generics are in the mainstream now and preventive diagnostic testing is further advanced than it has ever been. Moreover, technological progress continues to advance the standard of care. People are staying healthier longer, despite their miserable diets and lack of adequate exercise. Of course the problems are not behind us—they are still very much ahead of us—but it is to suggest that perhaps the system is moving in a productive direction.

The changes are reflected in the capital markets. There has been a slight, but significant shift in value creation from the traditional larger pharma companies to the smaller biotech and medtech companies, as well as the HMOs. Whether this shift is a blip or the beginning of a significant transition can not be told for several years. Moreover, there are important sectors that are growing but not generating sufficient cash to fund the level of capital investment requirement, for example, hospitals in general and tax-exempt hospitals in particular. This can result in major future problems unless it is addressed. How is the investor to react? Are there good times ahead or not? Healthcare has proven to be a challenging investment field for many who are only casual observers. Will big pharma recover? Will biotech deliver? How will hospitals be able to attract reasonably priced capital in these markets? If energy prices and other commodity prices continue to rise will investors find the healthcare case sufficiently compelling to put in the roughly $1T in equity and debt investment needed over the next handful of years? Will the increasing tightening at the FDA lead to lower success rates in drug trials and thus even more risk for the beleaguered biotech investors? Will healthcare IT deliver on its promise?

These issues, and others like them, are of vital interest to investors and managers alike. They will be the focus of the extending dialog among senior industry executives at Argyle Executive Forum Healthcare conference in New York City on December 5, 2006.

Please note that the limited seating for members of the advisory community is offered first to those that are supporting the event as sponsors. Participation by partnership organizations (advisory firms, vendors, etc) is limited to clients of Argyle Executive Forum. Argyle meetings are by invitation only. If you did not receive an invitation but would like to inquire about attendance, please click here.

*Press policies for member meetings are set at the individual session level. Some sessions may be on the record, while others are off. Please consult the meeting agenda, which will indicate which sessions are off the record. To inquire about media presence, please click here.

Perspectives By:

Stefan D. Abrams
Chief Investment Officer for Asset Allocation
TCW

Nicholas W. Alexos
Managing Director
Madison Dearborn Partners, LLC

Jonathan S. Bush
President and CEO, Co-founder
athenahealth, Inc.

Harvey V. Fineberg, M.D., Ph.D.
President
Institute of Medicine

Wayne Gattinella
President and CEO
WebMD

To be interviewed by:
Richard Vietor
Senior Advisor
Lehman Brothers Inc.

Bob Higgins
Managing General Partner
Highland Capital Partners

R. Dale Ross
Chairman and CEO
US Oncology, Inc.

Kári Stefánsson
Chairman
deCODE genetics