Schroeder gave the Harrington Lecture in the Flint Reading Room on Thursday, Feb. 22, as part of the ceremonies opening the sesquicentennial celebration for the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. Schroeder is president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the country's largest health-care philanthropic organization.

In a lecture titled "The Triumph of the Market: What Does It Mean For Medicine?" Schroeder showed how the cost of health care has far outpaced measurable improvements in health.

Managed care can control costs in several ways, including encouraging patients to be savvy shoppers and giving doctors incentives to cut out unnecessary tests and procedures, Schroeder said. Managed care may also help coordinate services for the chronically ill and encourage preventive care.

However, it's also possible that as health care becomes a for-profit industry, it will try to drop unprofitable public services such as care for the uninsured, graduate medical education and clinical research. Increasing efficiency is also leading to hospital closings and a glut in the job market for doctors, Schroeder said.

"What's going to happen over the next three to four years is really going to test our values as a profession and, more importantly, as a society," Schroeder concluded. He offered no solution, but told the audience, "I think you all can make a difference."

Thursday's ceremonies included the awarding of an honorary doctorate of science degree to Saxon Graham, UB professor emeritus of social and preventive medicine. Graham pioneered research on the relationship between diet and disease. Earlier Thursday, medical school officials dedicated the new Biomedical Research Building.