March 17, 2008
We're in it together
By Dennis Rivera and George Halvorson | Modern Healthcare
A century ago, Henry Ford revolutionized the business landscape with a simple philosophy: "Make the best quality of goods possible at the lowest cost possible, paying the highest wages possible."
Critics scoffed, but sure enough, within a quarter of a century Ford was producing one-third of all the world's automobiles, and the labor and manufacturing techniques he pioneered were reshaping industries around the country.
People aren't cars, and hospitals aren't assembly lines. But at its core, Ford's goal is not far from our own: to provide the highest quality of care in the most costeffective way possible, and with compensation that attracts and retains the world's best professionals.
Some of the nation's leading healthcare providers are succeeding spectacularly. (More on that below.) But at the national level, we're failing miserably. We are not low cost: The U.S. spends a larger percentage of its wealth on healthcare than any other industrialized nation.
We are not any healthier. In fact, we're ranked 37th in the world according to the World Health Organization, right above Slovenia. Nor are we retaining or growing our workforce to meet future demand. By 2016, there will be a need for 4 million new healthcare workers, and that's a projection made before we factor in the new demand created by universal healthcare reform.
And sadly, with nearly one in six of all Americans uninsured, we know that we are not providing even basic healthcare to all of our patients.
The Partnership for Quality Care, to which both of our organizations belong, is an unprecedented coalition that brings together the largest healthcare providers and the largest national healthcare union in the country. Our members include medical institutions of all kinds -- public, private, religious, not-for-profit and teaching -- and healthcare practitioners at all levels, from chief executives to front-line nurses and healthcare workers.
Together, we represent 1 million healthcare workers and providers who understand from personal experience the challenge of providing the best quality care. They do it every day, for more than 50 million patients each year.
Our new partnership is spearheading a national effort to shape meaningful reform, starting with universal healthcare coverage for all Americans -- coverage that is secure, affordable and portable. Why? Because we need to bring quality -- a topic that encompasses access, affordability, efficiency and cost containment -- to the forefront of our nation's healthcare reform debate.
Americans know all too well that our healthcare system isn't working, and many healthcare providers, unions and elected officials alike have spent the past 20 years advocating for fundamental reform. But the healthcare debate that most Americans actually hear boils down to a choice between two options: Either expand access for the uninsured and pay more or control costs and get less.
In that climate of false choices, it's no surprise that we're further than ever from a real solution to our healthcare crisis. For too long, the healthcare debate in this country has been about financing. It should be about fundamentals.
And the fundamental focus, the most essential concern of our national healthcare system, should be the topic of quality. Costs can be contained, healthcare outcomes can improve across entire communities, and we can spur innovations in healthcare delivery that will change the lives of millions if we focus on quality.
As we all know, chronic-care patients account for only 20% of U.S. patients, but an incredible 75% of our healthcare spending. This week, on March 19, the Partnership for Quality Care will hold its first summit in Washington to target the core problem of chronic care and highlight cutting-edge solutions that are already improving health outcomes while containing costs.
In Northern California, for example, Kaiser Permanente has taken aim at heart disease with a combination of preventive programs and evidence-based medicine. By prescribing equally effective generic medications to patients with high blood pressure where appropriate, it was able to expand its management of heart disease while controlling costs.
The best measure of success? Heart disease mortality rates have dropped 30% among its Northern California members compared with the general population. Today, heart disease is no longer the No. 1 killer among Kaiser members in the region, bucking the national trend.
At the summit, a half-dozen other leading institutions will join SEIU Healthcare in unveiling real-world programs that are successfully addressing challenges all providers face such as using technology to evaluate the effectiveness of chronic-care regimes; reducing racial and ethnic disparities in the treatment of chronic disease; and involving chronic-care patients in the monitoring and treatment of their own conditions.
Healthcare reform is happening right now; the right models are being developed today in communities around the country. If we can bring quality to the center of the debate, we can bring innovation and excellence to healthcare delivery. There's no greater challenge than this, and no greater success story for our patients and communities.
Reprinted courtesy of Modern Healthcare
