The health care systems most commonly put into practice in developed nations aren't necessarily broken or beyond repair. But they do need to be redirected. In fact, among certain health care providers and users, health care models are in place that, if adopted more widely, could save hundreds of billions and dollars and improve peoples' health along the way.

This message, and the data to support it, were presented by consultant Oliver Wyman at the 2014 World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland. Oliver Wyman is a unit of Marsh & McLellan.

"Health care costs are rising rapidly all over the world," says Dr. Jim Bonnette, Oliver Wyman's chief medical officer. "Many health care systems are trying to keep them down through reducing what they pay for a given procedure or through rationing, an approach in the long run that forces trade-offs between quality, access, and sustainability. But there is another way."