1:30 Dr. Glenn Forbes, CEO of the Mayo Clinic, introduces the panelists, then talks about health care and economic development. The health care industry generates wealth, but also consumes resources. Forbes notes how we all agree health care needs to be fixed, but we don't agree on how. He outlines the main problems: cost-shifting, quality, cost and access. We need good outcomes and need ti know how to measure outcomes. Cost effectiveness is an issue. Access and availability issues need to be addressed. Incentives need to be changed.
The guidelines for health care? High quality, low costs, Better information technology to coordinate evidence-based care , A systems engineering approach need to be applied to health. It needs to supply appropriate access.
He wants to see practice transformation, moving from reactive health care to a pro-active approach. We should move from an illness to a wellness approach. Medicine should move from an art to a science. It shouldn't be episodic but look at a lifetime.. Health care now is fragmented; in the future it should be integrated. Health care should comprehensive.
1:37 Dr. Zigang Dong, a cancer researcher how head the Hormel Institue talks about the research at the Institute and how it's lending to economic development. The keyword that defines the Institue's work is collaboration that brings an economic bonus to the community. Soon, between 80 to 100 new jobs will be created, many requiring advanced degrees. He thanks Representative Walz for the earmark.
1:46 Dr Matthias from the Mankato Clinic talks about the perfect storm caused by costs for those providing primary care. He's talking about the dearth of doctors coming out of residencies who want to practice in towns under 100,000. Another concern is the looming health care needs of baby booming. Reimbursement rates for some areas of practice discourage doctors from selected those areas. Minnesota has benefitted from programs to encourage doctors to work in rural areas. He also raises the fact that doctors get paid to treat sickness rather than promote health. Competition and transparency based on quality of care should also be improved. Doctors should be rewarded for quality of care.
1:55 Doctor Drew Flaada, IBM, is addressing the needs to improve information technology in medicine. He notes that health care isn't an integrated system, and that creates infromation technology problems. There are no incentives to adopt the technology. He notes that Denmark's medical records and billing systems are tied together, and consumers can access infromation through a credit card. Comprehensive systems like that could improve the system. Biological systems are very complex, and difficult to understand, but information technology is improving and ready to take the next system in corrdinating information and discoveries.
2: 12 Dr Noel Peterson is talking about why health care works better in Minnesota. One is comprehensive practices that share infromation. The state also has developed the community measurement system, to see how your health system does with certain conditions.
What is quality health care. It's safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitably, and patient-centered, respectful of the patient's values.
Across the country, health care doesn't do as well as we should. U.S doesn't do as well as it should based on UN 's standards, even though we pay twice as much as other nation. Not getting the value for that dollar. One way to improve: preventation. Stop smoking, lose weigh, immunization, cancer screening. Next, secondary prevention is important once an illness comes--savings can be gained when primary care prevents comlplications. Congress require the political will to deal with the issue.
Access is important; going to the emergency room isn't cost effective for health issues that aren't emergencies. Value comes from prevention and secondary prevention.
Dr. Mary Bliesmer, head of MSU-Mankato's nursing program, notes that there simply aren't as the resources to educate all of those students who wish to go into nursing. There used to be a federal program providing money on a per student basis for nursing education, but that program is gone. The state provides some money, but it's not enough. A wave of retirements is coming and we simply aren't educating enough nurses to replace them. We need to be creative in using medical retirees for mentoring and training programs. More people are turned away from Mankato's program than admitted, despite the need.
2:18 Congressman Walz reacts. He notes that at the federal level , when someone talks about "universal coverage" the term "socialized medicine" follows and the diiscussion ends, even though universal coverage doesn't mean single payer.
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