In the United States, the health care field and society-at-large are in the midst of enormous turbulence. An aging and increasingly diverse population, global and nationwide economic problems of unprecedented complexity, a federal government beset with political conflicts that harm its ability to address important issues, growing evidence of major disparities in health care access, affordability, and quality, and the continuing explosion in medical science and technology are among the powerful forces that are affecting health care providers, payors, and consumers.