In recent years, healthcare has emphasized pay based on quality, the use of e-health throughout systems, plus focusing on team care and prevention. Right now, some people are getting outstanding healthcare at lower costs and have easier access to the care needed. However, not everyone is so lucky.
During this time over the “repeal or replace” debate, the Council of Accountable Physician Practices (CAPP) http://accountablecaredoctors.org a coalition of high performing multi-specialty medical groups and health systems has been urging decision-makers to focus on healthcare delivery initiatives to improve patient care, reduce medical errors, and to lower the overall cost of healthcare.
“In the debate over healthcare reform, we must not ignore the importance of improving how healthcare services are organized and delivered,” states Robert Pearl, M.D. Chairman of CAPP, He is also CEO of The Permanente Medical Group and President and CEO of the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group.
He adds, “If we do not continue to emphasize the need for care initiatives that promote physician-led value-based patient-centered technologically-enabled care, we will lose ground in providing quality, innovation, and outcomes to lower the cost of healthcare, while making it more available and convenient to patients.”
Dr. Pearl also notes, “The CAPP medical groups are pioneers in linking physicians and patients with technology and digital communication, in delivering coordinated, and connected care, and in forging patient/physician relationships that are both high touch and high tech.
CAPP physicians recommend the use of more widespread and coordination use of health IT so that care teams can access information related to the patients’ health and treatment anywhere and anytime.
To sum up, improvements in healthcare delivery will require changes in payment incentives to providers, developing new innovations in technology, enabling digital communications between healthcare teams, providing video visits with doctors, providing access to more data, and improving preventive services to achieve better patient care and outcomes.