Is there convergence between Britain and the United States in the organisation of health services?. Interview by Penny Newman.

Is the organisation of health care in Britain becoming similar to that in the United States? Since the introduction of the internal market radical change has gripped the NHS. In the United States, despite the failure to implement coherent health care reform, a health care revolution is under way, driven by cost containment. At the centre of these changes is managed competition. Alain Enthoven, Marriner S Eccles professor of public and private management at Stanford University, has been the principal proponent of managed competition in both countries. His writings inspired the NHS reforms in 1989 and President Clinton's advisers to adopt managed competition in 1994, though ultimately he became opposed to the Clinton plan. In this interview with Penny Newman he redefines managed competition, explores the similarities and differences that have arisen between Britain and the United States, and describes recent trends in the United States, many of which are being mirrored in Britain. He illustrates a degree of convergence between the two countries. This was unthinkable 10 years ago when comparing the fee for service system in the United States with the NHS.