Healthcare is rarely out of the headlines. One day, the conversation centers on rising costs. The next, it’s physician shortages, access to care, insurance reform, or the latest medical breakthrough. Each issue deserves attention because every one affects patients in meaningful ways. But amid all of these discussions, I think we sometimes lose sight of a more fundamental question.

For all the discussion around healthcare reform in the United States, one issue continues to sit at the center of the problem: We still spend far more treating disease than preventing it.