The disproportionate impact of the pandemic on the underserved, Black Americans, Latinos, and those with chronic conditions requires an industry-wide foundational response.
The pandemic has shown the best of American healthcare in the collaborative, selflessness of our physicians and nurses, but also the vexing challenges of a payment system based on episodic acute care.
And yet, in an industry known for resistance to change, transformation is suddenly in full swing. The acceleration toward an integrated, holistic healthcare system—one that prevents illness and maintains the health of both clinically and socially vulnerable populations—has forced broader recognition for change due to Covid-19. Now is the time to inject models of care and payment systems with a new perspective and proven innovations.
Three ways Covid-19 is an impetus for transformation
The disproportionate impact of the pandemic on the underserved, Black Americans, Latinos, and those with chronic conditions requires an industry-wide foundational response. And three truths tell us that a more equitable, effective system that delivers real value to patients, providers, and payers is possible:
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Healthcare can change: Suddenly, in a matter of weeks, healthcare has demonstrated that, in fact, it can pivot and innovate new models of care delivery: telehealth and virtual care, wide adoption of home monitoring technology, and population health on a broad scale in the form of social distancing.
Health equity and social determinants have a direct impact on outcomes: At the same time, the role of social determinants in health outcomes has never been clearer. Vulnerable and underserved populations are experiencing rates of infection and complications of the virus at devastatingly higher rates than other populations. Now is the time to understand why and act.
Primary care cannot survive in a transactional system: The pandemic has also laid bare the inadequacy of a fee-for-service reimbursement system for primary care. Community physicians are struggling in the pandemic to keep their lights on if their reimbursement is transactional and episodic—even as their patients need them more than ever. Population-based value care initiatives also incentivize primary care providers to focus on those patients most at risk.
A head-start on transformation
The pandemic opened the door to broad change across the healthcare ecosystem — a better system that connects care across a continuum, spanning from primary to acute care to provide a seamless, high-quality patient experience. This model avoids unnecessary duplication of services, and data proves the ability to lower the total cost of care for payers.
Source: Medcity News