I find today's opportunities to redesign how healthcare is delivered fascinating.  Each day I ponder why current delivery models struggle with redesign and grimace at the lack of focus on families and their ultimate involvement in driving how loved ones receive care. If only healthcare systems and insurance companies could truly discuss and agree on common goals, wow, what the possibilities could be.

Greatly influenced by successful population health initiatives co-led by the Alaska Native Medical Center and Southcentral Foundation, and supported by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, I have come to believe that design and delivery of healthcare services in non native healthcare is going in reverse.  Todays order appears to be come up with an idea, see who will pay for it, build a facility to deliver the service, and make as much money as you can for as long as you are able. Can that order be changed?  Could the ultimate goals be different?  I have lived in an area of the country where inpatient and outpatient partnerships created a 50 percent drop in hospital urgent care and ER utilization, 53 percent drop in hospital admissions, 65 percent drop in specialist utilization, 20 percent drop in primary care utilization, achieved 75-90 percentile on most outpatient HEDIS outcomes and quality, improved childhood immunization rates to 93 percent, achieved employee turnover rates of less than 12 percent annualized, improved customer and staff overall satisfaction from the 50th to over 90th percentile.  Ultimately, the above utilization changes freed up space for those previously unable to obtain care as facilities were full.  Once implemented, system costs dropped and revenue increased due to the increase in much needed access.

Give me a call. I would be happy to discuss how movement towards population health management service delivery (Mind, Body, Spirit) could benefit your operation.