The CEO of Jackson Healthcare, an Alpharetta-based healthcare staffing firm, issued a proposal this week to revamp the U.S. healthcare system.

"Technology now provides us the opportunity to return doctors to the practice of medicine, eliminate the middle man, improve the quality of healthcare and make it affordable and accessible to everyone," said Jackson Healthcare CEO Richard Jackson.

Jackson's plan has eight major components:
*Eliminating health insurance companies.
*A smart card that would let doctors immediately look up a patient's medical history and provide for payment to doctors.
*A central repository for healthcare information.
*A healthcare reimbursement trust fund into which all payors would pay premiums based on the desired level of medical coverage.
*National physician review panels to cover protocols for patient care and decide what is medically necessary.
*Malpractice claims to be reviewed by regional physician review panels to reduce malpractice lawsuits.
*Physicians and other providers would be part of the same system, and a national fee schedule would be created.
* Incentives would be made available for physicians and private industry to reduce medical costs.

For more on the proposal, click here.