Published: 2009-10-04 12:20:23
Author: Gardiner Harris | New York Times | September 16, 2009
At the same moment that Senator Max Baucus, Democrat of Montana, was introducing his long-awaited blueprint for a health care overhaul Wednesday, executives from medical groups widely hailed as models were meeting nearby in Washington, D.C., to plot how to make more of the country look like them.
Among the attendees were executives from the Cleveland Clinic, Geisinger Health System, Guthrie Health, Billings Clinic and seven other health care systems in which doctors are paid a salary and patients are generally given care coordinated among a variety of specialists. Such systems have been cited by President Obama, Congressional leaders and policy experts as medical exemplars.
Studies suggest that these organizations — which together provide care for nearly 18 million Americans and employ more than 20,000 doctors — generally provide high-quality care at reasonable cost.
The secret of their success, expert say, is that because doctors in such systems receive a salary, they have few incentives to give patients unnecessary treatments or care.
“We came together to explore with one another if there were shared elements that we should suggest for incorporation in health reform,” said Dr. William F. Streck, president of Bassett Healthcare, which is based in Cooperstown, N.Y.
Although each organization is different, the group identified important similarities: leadership by a doctor, use of electronic medical records and the requirement that doctors cooperate across specialties.Full story