We tend to plan, but how many people in this audience have a five-year plan for their health? Probably none. . . . In order to develop a strategic plan for your health, you need to be able to assess an individual’s risk for disease. And if we think of the major diseases—coronary artery disease, stroke, diabetes, many forms of cancer—we are already capable of determining what those risk factors are. Think of the power of the genomic revolution: Within 10 years we will be able to predict increased risk in the major chronic diseases. You put those together and say, why should not every American, ultimately everybody on this planet, have an individualized risk assessment and a personal health plan? We do it for almost every other aspect of our life. With a health system such as this, rather than treating acute events . . . we could be treating or enhancing the power of individuals to improve their own lives. And that will be the health plan of the future.

Ralph Snyderman, Chancellor for Health Affairs, Executive Dean, Duke University School of Medicine and President and CEO, Duke University Health System, George Eastman Medal (School of Medicine and Dentistry medical degree ceremony)