What's next, my favorite movie "The Hurt Locker" cleaning up at the Oscars, or a 10% increase for healthcare spending in Ontario for the upcoming fiscal year? Well, let's stay tuned!
As I promised last time, I'd like to spotlight integrated healthcare; based on an article that the Obama administration is said to have used on numerous occasions during recent discussions on healthcare costs. Although we do not have identical models of healthcare, I found the article a worthy discussion point.
It came about when Atul Gawande, did some research into why McAllen Texas is the most expensive place in the US, in terms of healthcare costs, yet it doesn't stand out for its quality in delivery.
Despite its length, I feel the article should be mandatory reading for everyone involved in healthcare delivery on the planet!
Mr. Gawande argues McAllen shows that:
- an unhealthy population and high healthcare costs do not necessarily correlate
- costs are inordinately high because people got more of the expensive stuff and not necessarily what's needed
- there's an overuse of medical care -- health providers tended to maximize revenue
- universal care is not feasible/sustainable unless costs can be controlled
He then goes on to suggest that the Mayo clinic-style of integration will be the future of universal healthcare; their tenet is: "the needs of the patient come first...", not the convenience or revenues of healthcare providers.
Two notable quotes for me are:
- the most expensive piece of medical equipment, as the saying goes, is a doctor’s pen. And, as a rule, hospital executives don’t own the pen caps. Doctors do
- when doctors put their heads together in a room, when they share expertise, you get more thinking and less testing
It begs the questions: does this reflect on the quality of our healthcare? Are we at the two-tier stage where if you can afford to, you can get better care, faster, elsewhere?
I agree wholeheartedly with Atul Gawande's argument that the Mayo clinic model of healthcare (that of integration) has got to be our beacon for the future, if universal healthcare is to survive.
Admittedly, it has piqued my interest mainly because one of the underpinnings is the use of Information Technology (IT) to share everything -- patient information, expertise, ideas etc.
That's it for now and until next time, perhaps you should start working on mothballing the snowblower and preparing the lawnmower, hedge-trimmer and golf swing -- won't be long now!
Ernest A. James
President/CEO
Regal Informatics Inc.
President/CEO
Regal Informatics Inc.
Agree with the thesis that Integration is a key component but IT is only one enabler and I am not sure there is sufficient political will to enable true transformation. I don’t understand why we can talk about rationalizing clinical services but can’t talk about rationalizing administrations across 1000’s of hospitals and community agencies?
ReplyDeletePerhaps if the Budget continues to be an issue there will be financial will!
But as consultant pointed out in a talk she was giving “Ontario seems to be stuck in some vague middle ground where it "can't afford" the capital(political and financial) needed to make changes (like Alberta can) and yet it isn't yet in the "can't afford not to" stage that Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and others seem to find themselves in.
We lack leadership