Ten years from now, Americans may enjoy a health care system that is patient-centered, consumer-driven, and provider-friendly.

So predicted U.S. Senate Majority Leader William H. Frist, M.D., the Tennessee Republican who delivered the Shattuck Lecture at this year's Annual Meeting in Boston.

"The status quo is unacceptable, and our health care system will deteriorate unless we act," Frist, the Senate's only sitting physician, told the luncheon gathering.

A leading advocate for a federal solution to the liability dilemma, Frist said he remains confident that the system can be reformed in a way that helps doctors, compensates patients who are hurt, and rewards efforts to improve quality. As majority leader, Frist's efforts to push a reform bill through the Senate have not yet succeeded.

Among other predictions, Frist said that by 2014 individuals will be empowered -- largely by technology -- to make many of their own decisions about which providers to see, what hospitals to use, and what health plans to select. "Consumers are now left out of the system," he said, adding that until consumers use more of their own money to access health care services, it will be difficult to curb rising costs.

View online video of Dr. Frist's address.

An edited version of Dr. Frist's address will be published in an upcoming edition of The New England Journal of Medicine.

annual 2004,a04,shattuck lecture,frist