Health Care Innovation Is Key to Our Future

It's hard to find anybody who is completely happy with the course health care reform has taken.  Although it is possible that new legislation will provide regular health care access to millions more Americans, it seems unlikely that we will see many measures either to improve the quality of health care or to put a lid on the growth of medical costs.

Those are serious problems. While America pays more per capita for health care than any other country in the world ($7,421 per person in 2007), it ranked 39th in infant mortality in 2006 and 36th in life expectancy. The status quo is a national disgrace. Health care has also emerged as a big burden to businesses, whose health care premiums have more than doubled in the past decade.

There is reason for hope. The vast disparity in health care cost and quality from region to region in our country suggests there are significant opportunities to make improvements without necessarily making major structural changes. New research in the comparative effectiveness of different kinds of medical treatment should, for example, lead toward better health care decisions.

Health care providers in Washington already provide better care at lower cost than other regions. We have little choice given the relatively low Medicare reimbursements provided to our region. One reason for our relative success is that we have some of the most creative and enterprising health care individuals and organizations in the country. Seattle Business Magazine's annual Leaders in Health Care awards are designed to recognize those individuals who are helping to advance the state of health care in our state.

 The University of Washington, for example, was one of eight hospitals worldwide to adopt a World Health Organization-backed checklist system for surgery-a system modeled on the checklists pilots use-that has significantly improved safety and quality of care at UW's hospitals while also cutting costs. UW has improved on the checklist system with the Surgical Clinical Outcomes Assessment Program (SCOAP), which enables hospitals to compare treatments and outcomes across hospitals. Dr. David Flum, who played a significant role in launching both initiatives, was our Outstanding Health Care Professional in the inaugural Leaders in Health Care program last year.

This year's list includes a doctor who helped introduce the medical home program that has paradoxically reduced cost by allowing doctors to spend more time with patients, a man who played a key role in the establishment of Group Health Cooperative, and the CEO of a Spokane-based organization that has taken advantage of electronic medical records to drive new efficiencies.

More innovation should, over time, result in higher quality, more cost-effective care; healthier, happier employees and lower health care costs. If Washington state can continue to do a better job of innovation, health care could emerge as a source of local competitiveness rather than a business burden.

Leslie D. Helm

Editor

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