The United States spends billions of dollars on health care, and costs continue to rise. What's more, employers shoulder a growing part of the burden—a sobering reality for companies already facing a tough economic climate and ongoing margin pressures. And, unfortunately, higher costs don't imply higher quality. A lack of established best practices results in wide variations in care from region to region and even from hospital to hospital.

As the debate about how to "fix" the health care system continues, the problem's complexity means that there will be no easy solutions. But one thing is clear: information technology will play a critical role in the industry's eventual transformation.

Leonard D. Schaeffer, the chairman and former CEO of WellPoint, the largest publicly traded US health benefits company, with more than 26 million members, is uniquely well positioned to address the challenges facing the health care industry—and the likely solutions. Under his leadership, WellPoint has been honored by Fortune magazine as the "most admired health care company" in the United States for an unprecedented six consecutive years. Earlier, as CEO of Blue Cross of California (WellPoint's predecessor), he led the company back from the brink of bankruptcy.

Schaeffer shared his vision...