Changes afoot in healthcare ‘punch bowl’
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In wishing you well this New Year, I’ve got some good cheer to share — sort of a holiday punch bowl.
You may be wondering with all the publicity about healthcare, “What is the biggest change that patients will see in the coming year?” We discussed this at our December St. Joseph Hospital board meeting, and here’s what I came away with:
The “punch”: electronic medical records will enable patients to access their records and eventually be able to book their own appointments. Integrating our health files will mean seamless care without us having to repeat all our information.
The “hangover”: with our ailing economy, folks are putting off preventive healthcare. The consequences for patients are obvious: higher treatment cost and longer recovery time. The burden to our local hospitals is higher uncollectible debts. There are more headaches with Congress wrangling over Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements to doctors and hospitals. It’s uncertain where that will end up, but it’s likely that payments will get cut. The sorry result is that some independent doctors cannot afford to care for folks on Medicaid and may limit Medicare patients without supplemental insurance.
So where’s the fizz in all this grog?
The good news – and there’s plenty — is that our hospitals continually seek better ways to treat us. They share success breakthroughs and knowledge with colleagues, and collaborate on innovations to improve care. I am always impressed with the patient-care improvements that the staff shares with our community hospital board each month.
Where does that leave us as individuals?
The health care industry has this “recipe” for our overall health: 40 percent of our health potential is inherited; 20 percent is a result of sanitation and public health – clean water, proper sewage and immunizations; 10 percent of our health is a result of the American healthcare delivery system – and it’s the best in the world – leaving the remaining 30 percent to each of us. We Americans, on average, could be more responsible. Some of us sabotage nearly a third of our health with careless eating habits, the choice to smoke, too little exercise and immoderate alcohol and drug use.
It’s my hope that the improvements we’ll see in 2012 will be a powerful incentive to for us to take better care of ourselves for better quality of life, strengthening our families and communities.
May you enjoy good health, friendship, new opportunities and fulfillment. It’s my honor to serve as your Senator.
