IT vs. Culture
The move to accountable care is a lot like a 26.2-mile marathon. It's no sprint, says Craig E. Samitt, MD, MBA, CEO of Dean Health System, based in Madison, Wis., in this month's cover story.
Building the necessary infrastructure for accountable care might take a few months, but changing a provider's attitude and culture could take much longer, says Amit Rastogi, MD, president and CEO of PriMed, an integrated medical group based in Shelton, Conn., with more than 110 providers in 38 locations.
The road to successful accountable care, or switch from volume to value, requires other efforts such as reconsidering where to invest limited resources, EHR optimization that goes beyond Meaningful Use and increased patient engagement. These changes, or should I say challenges, won't be easy for many providers to overcome, but the current healthcare system is unsustainable and something has to change. Is accountable care the answer?
Meanwhile, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a 382-page report, Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America, calling for better use of IT in healthcare to make information more accessible, engage patients and their families and make care more equitable.
"America's healthcare system has become far too complex and costly to continue business as usual," the report read, citing "pervasive inefficiencies, an inability to manage a rapidly deepening clinical knowledge base, and a reward system poorly focused on key patient needs.
"Missed opportunities for better healthcare have real human and economic impacts," an 18-member expert panel said. The use of highest-performing care could have prevented 75,000 deaths in 2005, the panel said.
Taking a proactive approach, Boston Children's Hospital has been working to catch these missed opportunities to improve care. The hospital's Chief Innovation Officer, Naomi Fried, PhD, is leading the facility's Innovation Acceleration Program. In this month's Profile in Leadership (page 14), she discusses the importance of empowering innovators from within the organization.
"It's important to acknowledge innovators and recognize their efforts, so they have the energy to keep on trying," she says. Going forward, she envisions more and more organizations providing dedicated resources to innovation because "there is growing recognition of the terrific impact of existing programs."
This convergence of culture and technology, attitude and innovation drove our decision to expand our vision and focus on the growing field of Clinical Innovation + Technology. We'd appreciate your feedback as we continue to evolve our content and embrace a message of increased collaboration across the care continuum.
Building the necessary infrastructure for accountable care might take a few months, but changing a provider's attitude and culture could take much longer, says Amit Rastogi, MD, president and CEO of PriMed, an integrated medical group based in Shelton, Conn., with more than 110 providers in 38 locations.
The road to successful accountable care, or switch from volume to value, requires other efforts such as reconsidering where to invest limited resources, EHR optimization that goes beyond Meaningful Use and increased patient engagement. These changes, or should I say challenges, won't be easy for many providers to overcome, but the current healthcare system is unsustainable and something has to change. Is accountable care the answer?
Meanwhile, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a 382-page report, Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America, calling for better use of IT in healthcare to make information more accessible, engage patients and their families and make care more equitable.
"America's healthcare system has become far too complex and costly to continue business as usual," the report read, citing "pervasive inefficiencies, an inability to manage a rapidly deepening clinical knowledge base, and a reward system poorly focused on key patient needs.
"Missed opportunities for better healthcare have real human and economic impacts," an 18-member expert panel said. The use of highest-performing care could have prevented 75,000 deaths in 2005, the panel said.
Taking a proactive approach, Boston Children's Hospital has been working to catch these missed opportunities to improve care. The hospital's Chief Innovation Officer, Naomi Fried, PhD, is leading the facility's Innovation Acceleration Program. In this month's Profile in Leadership (page 14), she discusses the importance of empowering innovators from within the organization.
"It's important to acknowledge innovators and recognize their efforts, so they have the energy to keep on trying," she says. Going forward, she envisions more and more organizations providing dedicated resources to innovation because "there is growing recognition of the terrific impact of existing programs."
This convergence of culture and technology, attitude and innovation drove our decision to expand our vision and focus on the growing field of Clinical Innovation + Technology. We'd appreciate your feedback as we continue to evolve our content and embrace a message of increased collaboration across the care continuum.
Beth Walsh,
Editor
Editor Beth earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and master’s in health communication. She has worked in hospital, academic and publishing settings over the past 20 years. Beth joined TriMed in 2005, as editor of CMIO and Clinical Innovation + Technology. When not covering all things related to health IT, she spends time with her husband and three children.