Archive for the 'Campaign for Better Care' Category

BREAKING NEWS: Dr. Berwick is Appointed!

Debra Ness, President

Today, President Obama appointed Dr. Donald Berwick to serve as Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). I truly believe that Dr. Berwick is the best man for the job – he is a highly qualified candidate with extraordinary skill, vast experience and a deep dedication to improving America’s health care system.

However, he has been the victim of ugly and baseless attacks by opponents of health reform who wanted to undermine his nomination.

Just last week , the Campaign for Better Care organized some 90 of the nation’s top consumer, purchaser and provider groups to issue a strong defense of Berwick. Despite that strong, broad-based support, opponents have continued to misrepresent his work and distort his positions.

A recess appointment should not have been necessary but, given the circumstances, it was. The White House was right to appoint a man who is, quite simply, one of the nation’s leading experts on our health care system. He is sure to be a dedicated and effective public servant who works tirelessly to improve care for vulnerable older adults and others with multiple health problems.

It is past time to put politics aside. We should all unite behind Dr. Berwick and work together to ensure that we realize the promise of reform and make quality, coordinated care available to all.

HealthCare.gov: Your Health Care, Explained!

Published on July 6, 2010 in Campaign for Better Care, Health Care, Kirsten Sloan and Reform. 0 Comments

Kirsten Sloan, Vice President

For many American families, women are the ones who gather information, compare plans, and make the decision about which plan best suits their needs and budget. Today, your job got a little easier.

In a first step of implementing the new health care reform law, the Obama administration launched a new website that gives women access to critical, unbiased information about their private and public insurance coverage options – so women can feel confident they are choosing the best plan for themselves and their families.

We recommend you take a look: http://www.healthcare.gov.

Dr. Berwick… Just What the Doctor Ordered

Published on July 1, 2010 in Campaign for Better Care, Debra Ness, Health Care and Reform. 0 Comments

Debra Ness

Enough is enough. Dr. Berwick – nominee for Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) – has been the victim of partisan and baseless attacks, and at the Campaign for Better Care, we think it’s time to set the record straight. That’s why we organized a strongly worded letter in support of Dr. Berwick’s nomination, which was signed by some 90 of the nation’s top consumer, purchaser and provider groups. Dr. Berwick is the right leader, at the right time, to make health care reform work for patients and their families.

Why should you care about Dr. Berwick’s nomination? The CMS is a critical federal agency that runs government-insurance programs for tens of millions of older persons, children, and those living in poverty. As Administrator, Dr. Berwick will help decide how to implement the new health reform law – a crucial role for the future of health care in the United States. That’s why his opponents would have you believe that he will ration care and let the government make health care decisions that should be made by patients and their doctors.

On the contrary, Dr. Berwick has consistently prioritized patients’ needs and preferences – and his record shows that commitment to patient-centered care. He is one of the nation’s leading authorities on health care quality and improvement, and has dedicated his professional career to closing the gap between the health care we have and the health care we should have.

Driven by his belief that health care is a human right, Berwick has launched groundbreaking initiatives to reduce unnecessary deaths, minimize preventable harm from surgical complications, and put control of health care decisions in the hands of informed patients and their families – goals we share at the National Partnership and with the Campaign for Better Care.

Berwick’s supporters describe him as a “passionate advocate for patients’ rights,”and he is “highly regarded in health-policy circles for his work to impose quality-control systems inside medical facilities and improve treatments.”

The New York Times writes that “[w]orking with numerous hospitals and clinics around the country, Dr. Berwick has shown that it is possible to reduce medical errors and improve the quality of care while reducing its cost.”

The Washington Post agrees: although Berwick’s focus “has been on improving care, several health policy experts said his methods often result in lower costs as well.”

And in a glowing endorsement of Berwick, a Los Angeles Times editorial states that “[o]nly in the topsy-turvy world in which end-of-life counseling services are called ‘death panels’ could a doctor who champions patients’ rights and better medical treatment be labeled a threat to healthcare consumers.”

So don’t let the negative, partisan spin fool you: Berwick is the highly qualified, experienced, and patient-centered Administrator CMS needs in order to implement health reform in a way that will lower costs and improve health care coordination.

And the experts agree – Berwick has widespread support from doctors, hospitals, medical schools, consumer groups and several former directors of CMS who served under presidents on both sides of the aisle.

The Washington Post sums it up best: Donald Berwick is “just what the doctor ordered for CMS.”

It’s Older Americans Month and My Family Needs Better Care! Does Yours?

Published on May 4, 2010 in Campaign for Better Care, Health Care and Lynn Feinberg. 8 Comments

Lynn Feinberg

My two sisters and I are a team. For several years, as we each juggled our own work and family responsibilities, we willingly took on the role of “advocate” and “coordinator” of health care across settings (home, hospital, nursing home) for my father, who died last year at the age of 94. It wasn’t easy. At times it sapped our energy and our spirits. But we took on the role out of love and a deep respect for our father.

Now we are teaming up again for my mom. We have to – because none of our parents’ health care providers have taken on the critical role of coordinating care, communicating with each other, or linking us to the community supports that older adults need to maintain their independence, functional status, and quality of life. Older adults with multiple health problems, in particular, need doctors, nurses and other health providers who talk to each other and work together – along with the patient and their family caregivers – as a team. That’s the better way, but it’s out of reach for too many patients and families.

That’s why I hope you will get involved in our major new initiative, the Campaign for Better Care. The Campaign’s policy agenda aims to ensure that the reformed health care system provides the comprehensive and coordinated care that older adults with multiple health problems need and deserve. It will advocate at the federal and state levels to ensure that new models of delivering care are patient- and family-centered, team-based, and include important services like geriatric assessment, care planning, comprehensive care coordination, transition management between care settings, medication management, and community support for older adults and their family caregivers. It will promote payment strategies that support primary care practice and reward better quality, coordination and communication among health providers, patients and family caregivers.

May is Older Americans Month – a tradition dating back to 1963 that honors the legacies and ongoing contributions of older Americans. When Older Americans Month was established 47 years ago, only 17 million living Americans had reached their 65th birthdays. Today, there are nearly 40 million adults age 65 and older. And with the aging of the baby boom generation – the largest in our history – the U.S. older population is expected to grow to 71.5 million by 2030. In fact, the first baby boomers turn age 65 in 2011 and they will become eligible for Medicare. Will the health care policies of the future meet our needs more adequately than the policies affecting older Americans today?

If the Campaign for Better Care is successful, the answer will be yes! So during this Older Americans Month, let us all honor elders – our fathers, our mothers, our grandparents, great-grandparents, and other older relatives and friends. And let’s celebrate and support the launch of the Campaign for Better Care and work together to improve health care for older Americans and their families.

Now the Hard Work Begins…

Published on April 8, 2010 in Campaign for Better Care, Debra Ness, HIT, Health Care, Quality and Reform. 0 Comments

Debra Ness

That’s right. Health reform may officially be law, but now the hard work of fixing our health care system begins.

And we’re excited to launch a major new initiative, the Campaign for Better Care, to ensure that older adults, and all Americans, can realize the promise of reform.

The Campaign for Better Care — led by the National Partnership, Community Catalyst and the National Health Law Program, with funding from The Atlantic Philanthropies — begins the critical work of convincing policymakers to implement reform in ways that give people the comprehensive, coordinated health care they need -- especially older adults and individuals with multiple chronic conditions, and those who are sickest and most vulnerable.

This issue affects so many of us. In communities across the country, patients cope with extraordinary pressures from a health care system that doesn’t coordinate their care. And family caregivers — including wives, daughters, husbands, sisters, grandchildren, other relatives and friends — struggle to help, often with little or no support.

Campaign for Better Care

It doesn’t have to be this way. Doctors should work together as a team, medical records should be at our fingertips, and patients and families should not be left to fend for themselves. We get it. There is a better way. And it’s what the Campaign for Better Care is all about.

Check out the new campaign website at www.CampaignforBetterCare.org where you can learn more, read compelling personal stories, and even become part of the “face” of the campaign, by adding your photo to an interactive photo slideshow — filled with photos and stories shared by real people just like you. We also encourage you to follow and interact with us on Facebook and Twitter .

We have a lot planned in the coming weeks, and hope we can count on you to help us raise awareness about the urgent need for better care.

In particular, we’re launching an advertising blitz on Capitol Hill next week to welcome Congress back from recess and remind them that now the hard work begins! We’ll post a copy of the full-page newspaper ad on the day it runs, and we’d appreciate your help spreading the word. We need our elected leaders to take notice!

In the meantime, take a look at our new site and photo slideshow, and send us your thoughts and ideas. We’d love to hear from you.

It’s Official. Campaign for Better Care Launched Today!

Published on April 8, 2010 in Campaign for Better Care, Debra Ness and Health Care. 1 Comment

Debra Ness

That’s right. Health reform may officially be law, but now the hard work of fixing our health care system begins.

And we’re excited to launch a major new initiative, the Campaign for Better Care, to ensure that older adults, and all Americans, can realize the promise of reform.

We have a lot planned in the coming weeks, and hope we can count on you to help us raise awareness about the urgent need for better care.

In the meantime, take a look at our new site and photo slideshow, and send us your thoughts and ideas. We’d love to hear from you.

New Beginning: Fixing Our Broken Health Care System Starts Now

Published on March 30, 2010 in Campaign for Better Care, Debra Ness, Health Care and Reform. 5 Comments

Debra Ness

It’s done. Health reform is now the law of the land. Your hard work has paid off, and you should feel proud.

Today, President Obama accomplished a legislative victory that has eluded our nation for a century. Today, he put the finishing touches on long overdue changes that can make America’s health care system more affordable, more accessible, more efficient, more centered on patients, and more fair for those who for too long suffered discrimination in insurance and disparities in care.

However, this isn’t the end of the journey…it’s a new beginning.

The hard work of making reform a reality now rests with President Obama, Secretary Sebelius and the states.

Now they must establish rules so that no person is denied coverage or care because of gender, age, health status, income or employment; so people who are sick can focus on getting well instead of worrying that they will lose their coverage; and so patients and their caregivers can count on more coordinated care.

Fixing our broken health care system begins now, and we urge you to join us as we hold our leaders accountable and ensure the promise of quality, affordable health care is kept for all Americans.

Stay tuned.

Health Care Reform Matters to Older Women

Published on December 7, 2009 in Campaign for Better Care, Debra Ness, Health Care and Reform. 0 Comments

Debra Ness

Let’s be clear. As both caregivers and patients, women bear the brunt of shortcomings in our health care system – high costs, poor quality, and fragmented, uncoordinated care.

That’s because women are the primary users of health care, and we continue to use more health services as we age.

It’s also because, in most cases, we are primary caregivers for our families. We coordinate care for our spouses, parents and children, and often, at great cost to ourselves, we fill in the gaps when the system fails and care is poor quality or uncoordinated.

With the finish line in sight on health reform, everyone needs to take a close look at what the House and Senate bills will do, not only to expand coverage and contain costs but also to improve the way care is delivered. We should look particularly closely at whether these bills will provide higher quality care for older women, who are more than half of Medicare beneficiaries and 70 percent of those aged 85 and older.

The good news is that the House and Senate bills both contain a number of measures that will improve the way we pay for and deliver health care. These quality improvement measures are vital to preserving and protecting programs like Medicare for the long term, and containing costs and improving efficiencies overall.

For example, both bills move us toward a system that links payment to better quality and better coordinated care. This means we can start paying for health care based on value and better health outcomes, rather than paying based on the number of services or tests performed. This is good news for anyone who has a loved one struggling with illness or health problems. People who navigate the health system know that their loved one needs the right test or treatment at the right time – not an abundance of repeat or erroneous services that don’t provide answers or make them better.

Earlier this year, we talked to caregivers around the country about their concerns with our health care system. Poor care coordination and a lack of communication among doctors were foremost on their minds. That’s because they’ve seen first-hand how these problems lead to dangers and waste from bad drug interactions, repeat tests, misdiagnoses, and more.

Both the Senate and House bills also introduce new models of delivering health care that are specifically designed to improve coordination and reduce events like preventable hospitalizations and readmissions, which are all too common now.

Because passing legislation only begins the work to fix our broken health care system, these bills allow us to test new models over time so we can find out what works best and continuously build on our success.

Recently a distinguished group of consumer advocates, economists and analysts issued a letter praising the Senate’s Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act for its payment and delivery reforms. I was proud to coordinate and sign that letter.

Older women have a huge stake in turning our health care system around, and ensuring that it serves them and other vulnerable populations better. If we can make the system work for them, we can make it work for everyone.

We’re closer than ever to the reforms we need, but victory is not assured. We need to be certain the final legislation includes the key provisions that will improve care coordination and put patients first.

Balancing the need for change with ensuring that we do change right is the key to sustainable reform. As the Senate debates the specifics of reform, we must all fight for policies that will provide higher quality, better coordinated, and more affordable care for everyone.

The Evidence is There: Better Coordinated Care Makes Sense and Saves Money. Duh.

Published on October 14, 2009 in Campaign for Better Care, Christine Bechtel and Health Care. 0 Comments

Christine Bechtel

This just in. What health care experts have suspected for some time has been demonstrated by a new study published in the American Journal of Managed Care: patients who can rely on a coordinated system where their providers talk to each other, their medical information is available electronically, and they have improved access to doctors and nurses – have better health outcomes.

Quick Fact: What is a Patient-Centered Medical Home?

A “medical home” — aka: “patient-centered medical home”— is a medical office or clinic where a team of health professionals work together to provide a new, expanded type of care to patients. It’s not an institution or nursing home, but a medical office or clinic that offers coordinated, comprehensive primary care that is personal and focused on making sure the patient’s health care needs are met.

The study compared four components – patient experience, quality of care, costs, and staff burnout – at a pilot patient-centered medical home (PCMH) in Seattle. The outcome is compelling.

Patients at the PCMH fared far better than patients at control sites in some significant ways. After 12 months, patients at the PCMH had 29 percent fewer visits to the emergency room and 11 percent fewer hospitalizations. These patients reported higher levels of satisfaction with their care and took a more active role in their own health care through regular communications with doctors and more participation in patient groups and self-management workshops. These outcomes are good for patients, good for providers, and good for our nation’s pocket book.

Another reason the medical home model is so promising? Staff burnout (a long-time problem for primary care clinics that threatens the important role they play in preventing disease and keeping people healthy) was significantly less after one year at the PCMH. Only 10% of staff reported high burnout compared to 30% at the control sites.

And– because we love it when higher quality of care makes financial sense too – even though the PCMH had some significant initial start-up costs, those costs were recouped quickly (after one year). The study estimates this is because of savings from fewer emergency visits and hospitalizations. From the patient’s perspective, there was no detectable difference in cost between the PCMH and the control sites; meaning the PCMH was providing better care and patients were getting better outcomes and it didn’t cost them more.

But of course there’s bad news – there always is. The problem is that all those savings generated by the PCMH didn’t actually accrue to the same people who made the wise investment in the first place. For example, reduced hospitalizations are a worthy outcome, but those savings don’t benefit the PCMH directly; they really save health plans money. That’s a function of the way we currently pay for health care, which promotes fragmentation over coordination and leaves patients feeling as though they’re a collection of body parts instead of the whole person they really are.

Evidence like this should play a central role in re-organizing health care payment and delivery systems in this country. As Congress debates the future of health care, we must make sure that the way we pay for and deliver care helps every patient receives the high quality, coordinated care they deserve.

For more information about the Patient-Centered Medical Home and how you can help advance this exciting new model of care in your area, click here.

The Costs of Family Caregiving in an Aging Society: What Is Your Experience?

Published on October 5, 2009 in Campaign for Better Care, Health Care and Lynn Feinberg. 2 Comments

Lynn Feinberg

Everyone I know has at least one personal story about the overwhelming stress and frustration in trying to arrange, coordinate or provide the best possible care for an aging parent, spouse, grandparent, other older relative or friend, not to mention the spiraling costs of health care.

More than three decades of research clearly show that family caregiving is a public health issue — that family members who provide care to older adults with chronic or disabling health conditions are themselves at risk — emotionally, physically and financially — particularly when the care is for a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or another form of dementia.

Given our current economic recession, the financial aspects of family caregiving can be particularly distressing for the estimated 34 million Americans — most of whom are women — who provide care for an older (50+) family member or friend. The financial strain on this group, as they try to manage work, family, and caregiving responsibilities, was highlighted in a recent article in the New York Times. “Taking Care of Parents Also Means Taking Care of Finances” describes the growing numbers of Americans who are facing the “financial squeeze that can come from caring for elderly parents.”

The costs can be significant. Caregivers to persons age 50 and older spent an average of $5,531 per year out-of-pocket in 2007 for expenses ranging from household goods, food and meals, travel and transportation costs, to medical care co-pays and prescription medications.

According to a recent study by the National Alliance for Caregiving and Evercare, family caregivers have experienced the economic downturn in major ways. Consider these sobering statistics:

50% of working caregivers (that is, those who have worked at some point while providing care in the past 12 months) said they were less comfortable taking time off from work to provide care;
One in three working caregivers said they had to work more hours or get another job;
One in six (15%) said that the economic downturn has caused them to lose their job or be laid off;
Six out of 10 caregivers who reported increasing their out-of-pocket spending for caregiving also reported having difficulty paying for their own basic care needs; and
63% say they are saving less for their own retirement.

When it happens to you, when it becomes a personal issue in your own family, you are more likely to act.

For years at the National Partnership, we have talked about helping Americans meet the dual demands of work and family. A lot of people think about working parents when they hear those words, but millions of working people in this country are caring for frail, older relatives. The time has come to organize family caregivers as a strong and powerful force for meaningful and lasting change.

Stories about the real-life experiences of older adults and their family caregivers can help increase attention to the urgent need for better and more affordable, coordinated care.

Please take a moment to share your personal story about your caregiving experiences for an aging relative or friend.

Your story can make a difference!

Archive for the 'Campaign for Better Care' Category

BREAKING NEWS: Dr. Berwick is Appointed!

HealthCare.gov: Your Health Care, Explained!

Dr. Berwick… Just What the Doctor Ordered

It’s Older Americans Month and My Family Needs Better Care! Does Yours?

Now the Hard Work Begins…

It’s Official. Campaign for Better Care Launched Today!

New Beginning: Fixing Our Broken Health Care System Starts Now

Health Care Reform Matters to Older Women

The Evidence is There: Better Coordinated Care Makes Sense and Saves Money. Duh.

The Costs of Family Caregiving in an Aging Society: What Is Your Experience?

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