Back

(Download pdf)

The Role of Academic Health Centers
in Health Care Reform

2006 Annual Meeting
San Antonio, Texas

"Academic health centers must find a way to incorporate the uninsured into any health reform plan."

 

Health Care Delivery: Incorporating Evidence-Based Care and the Uninsured in a New System

 

Bruce C. Vladeck, PhD, President, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, George A. Chedraoui, Well-Being and Health Benefits Leader, IBM Global Well-Being Services

Major concerns about the uninsured, primary care, and evidence based care continue to generate debate when completing reform. Will such issues remain barriers to change?

Academic health centers must find a way to incorporate the uninsured into any health reform plan, says Vladeck. The uninsured receive about half as much care as the insured, and that care is less likely to be specialized or to involve elective procedures. Academic health centers need to find new delivery and training models to enact change in the health system.

"Academic health centers can improve and reform the health system by acting as knowledge brokers."

   

Contrary to what many believe, utilization does not drive the health system—price and supply and demand do. Fragmentation in the health system requires primary care physicians to act as navigators, and academic health centers need to focus on creating and training primary physicians. There needs to be a shift to primary care doctors receiving more reimbursement in the system.

IBM envisions a new system that balances quality and cost, according to Chedraoui.

The IBM strategy for driving value in healthcare: Create patient-centered care networks, encourage transparency, promote employee-centered change, focus on primary care, and engage in value purchasing.

IBM's recommendations for health system reform:


| Previous | Next |