Date
October 28, 2009
Rising health care costs continue to put pressure on state budgets across the nation, and most experts agree that Federal reform will further increase the amount states spend on health care. Faced with this reality, states are searching for methods to contain costs. This is particularly true in New York, which has the highest per capita expenditures on Medicaid and the third highest total health care costs (both public and private) per capita among states.
This conference, entitled “Having It All: Can New York State Control Health Costs While Improving Access and Quality?” touched on a range of cost-cutting strategies, including reforming payment structures, reducing hospital readmissions and improving care management and efficiency.
Dr. William Streck, President and CEO of Bassett Healthcare, kicked off the discussion with a keynote presentation laying out the current national trends on health care spending and their impact over the next decade. He argued that the fate of health care reform will be directly tied to cost containment efforts, and asserted that the best way to combat rising costs is to switch to a payment system that rewards quality of care rather than quantity.
Following his presentation, Sarah Iselin, Massachusetts Commissioner of Health Care Finance and Policy, and Elizabeth Mitchell, CEO of the Maine Health Management Coalition, discussed the efforts of their respective states to reduce expenditures. Both Massachusetts and Maine have higher total per capita expenditures than New York, but the presenters emphasized that their states’ efforts to alter payment methods and increase transparency have put them on the path to long-term cost reduction.
The final panel looked at initiatives already implemented in New York and the viability of expanding these programs statewide. It featured presentations by Francois de Brantes, CEO of Bridges to Excellence, who discussed the PROMETHEUS Payment Model; Maria Raven, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at NYU’s School of Medicine/Bellevue Hospital Center, who presented on the costs savings impact on improved care management; and Trip Shannon, Chief Development Officer of Hudson Headwaters Health Network (HHHN), who explained a pilot project initiated in the Adirondack region by HHHN to reduce hospital readmissions.
As a whole, the conference demonstrated that it is possible to contain rising health care costs without jeopardizing the quality of care. In some cases improved care and lower costs went hand-in-hand. However, what was also clear is that true cost reform will not come easily and will require the collective effort of the health care industry to sector.
To download the panelists’ PowerPoint presentations, please click the links below:
Dr. William Streck, President and CEO of Bassett Healthcare
Sarah Iselin, Massachusetts Commissioner of Health Care Finance and Policy
Elizabeth Mitchell, CEO of the Maine Health Management Coalition
Francois de Brantes, CEO of Bridges to Excellence
Maria Raven, Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine at NYU’s School of Medicine/Bellevue Hospital Center
Trip Shannon, Chief Development Officer of Hudson Headwaters Health Network