Great opportunities disguised as insoluble problems

The election is over. Excited winners now face limited resources to deliver on their campaign promises. Health care was on everyone’s list of important campaign issues. And we all know that money is scarce -- with our economy slow and a crisis in our financial system.

Conversations about reforming health care should not automatically begin with “how do we find more money?” Our national health care spending is already twice that of every other developed country in the world.

Our many complex health care challenges seem overwhelming. It is difficult to know where to start. Yet public-private partnerships from across our country have begun to build collaborative efforts to look for ways to use what we already expect to spend and see if we can increase value for those dollars.

Access HealthColumbus and its public-private partners are leading these efforts in central Ohio. We believe that public-private partnerships, such as Access HealthColumbus, are by no means a substitute for state or national reform. However, we are working with our partners to test and evaluate local innovative solutions to the health care problems we are facing in our country.

Consider these two initiatives as a good place to start:

Patient-Centered Medical Homes.

Not a physical place, but rather a physician-oriented team providing continuous and coordinated care, helping patients navigate our fractured, health care system. A few dozen communities have pilot projects testing and measuring the ability of coordinated care teams to deliver cost savings, better health outcomes, and higher patient satisfaction. And they are seeing success. Central Ohio is joining these efforts. Access HealthColumbus is creating a demonstration project for our community to adapt Patient-Centered Medical Homes to our local health systems.

Electronic Health Records.

Accurate health information, shared by care professionals saves money, improves health outcomes and gives higher patient satisfaction. While some good efforts have begun, our community’s efforts need coordination to make sure that all patients can move between our many excellent public and private health care providers. Access HealthColumbus is creating a demonstration project, with physicians and health systems, to develop an efficient method for sharing health information across systems of care in our community.

Health care is complex. The challenges are many. Each community is different. No one patient, physician, hospital or other health care provider is responsible for America’s health care ‘situation.’

Insoluble? We think not.

A wise person once said to look for “great opportunities disguised as insoluble problems.” We look working with our public-private partners on improving health care by advancing innovative solutions in our community.

We welcome your comments and suggestions.

Will the expansion of health care technology save a lot of money?

The complexity of advancing health information technology in our $2 trillion health care industry is significant. While the issue of savings is vital, it is important to review ALL potential benefits of investing in health information technology.

Health information technology has the potential to:

a) improve quality of care,

b) improve patient safety,

c) decrease health disparities,

d) provide an efficient source of data for reform initiatives such as pay-for-performance and health care outcomes research.

Health care expenditures currently total over $8 billion in Franklin County (Ohio) alone, and will double over the next ten years based on current trends. Health care is becoming unaffordable for consumers and unsustainable for our society as we compete in a global economy.

If we are to bend the inflationary curve on health care expenditures, we will need access to better administrative and clinical data. We need to communicate VALUE (value = quality/cost) to consumers and purchasers in order to reform our current health care situation. Without investment in health information technology, we will continue to struggle with measuring the value of our health care expenditures.