by Bea Grause Vermont’s regulators have just about finished their annual review and approval of hospital budgets, so naturally there has been a lot of dialogue about the work hospitals are doing to create a system where everyone gets care they can afford, from the hospital and doctor of their choice. Vermont’s hospitals are doing what Vermonters have asked them to do. We’ve held spending growth to historic lows for the third consecutive year. We are improving the delivery and coordination of care within hospitals and throughout our communities. And we are ensuring access for everyone – regardless of ability to pay.
RELATED STORY: Vermont hospital budgets up 3.5 percent for FY2016
But there’s more work to do to make care, and insurance, affordable for everyone.
Advancing payment reform and building community partnerships are top priorities for Vermont’s hospital leaders. They are figuring out how to change how providers are paid in order to realign our health care systems’ incentives away from intervention and toward prevention. It’s a win-win for Vermonters – better health and healthcare, and reduced costs over time.
Community-based efforts to improve health and access to primary care will help decrease the need for hospital care. Payment reform will support this work and will also ensure that our hospitals can continue to serve Vermonters whenever they are needed. We believe this simultaneous effort is the way forward, and that it is the best way to help Vermont contain growth in health care spending to a level that is consistent with growth in the economy.
As caregivers, we are pushing ahead on these reforms because we understand that Vermonters need relief from rising health care costs – now. The complexity and magnitude of these efforts cannot be an excuse for inaction because we simply cannot afford to wait.
Creating lasting improvement in the health of Vermonters begins with shared leadership in our communities – a responsibility we take seriously. Earlier this year, the Prevention Institute, a national nonprofit focused on community health, compared healthcare delivery and payment reform efforts in Vermont communities with national case studies. In their findings, they noted that the leadership of Vermont's hospitals is unique among states working to reform health care through community prevention efforts. "Unlike the national case studies, it is notable that Vermont hospitals frequently serve as the integrator and not merely a... participant." We understand that addressing the unique health needs of our largely rural state will require the leadership of many health care and community leaders. We are learning from them and want to support the work we need to do together.
In Franklin and Grand Isle Counties, Northwestern Medical Center is helping to tackle obesity through a community partnership called Rise Vermont. The hospital has deployed health advocates throughout the community, leading exercise groups and helping businesses; schools and municipalities adopt healthy practices and start their own health programs. It’s just one example of how hospitals are working as community partners to improve health.
Health challenges like obesity have to be tackled locally in order to reduce the incidence of other costly diseases like diabetes and heart disease. The challenge we face as a state is that we need to bring health care costs down by getting healthier ourselves. Support for healthier choices must exist in our homes, schools, our offices and our hospitals. There’s no other way.
Our approach is uniquely Vermont - everyone is at the table. We need to stay on this course over the coming months and years, as we work together to improve health, expand coverage, reduce costs, and maintain access to hospitals and doctors of choice for every Vermonter.
Bea Grause, President and CEO of the Vermont Association of Hospitals and Health Systems (VAHHS)