Just like Virginia isn’t waiting to take on health reform, Danville shouldn’t wait to come up with ways to improve local health care.
That’s what Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources Dr. Bill Hazel told more than 100 attendees of a health reform forum at the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research on Wednesday night.
The status quo in health care and insurance is not acceptable, Hazel said. Many Virginians can’t afford health insurance, businesses can’t stay competitive with rising costs and Medicaid continues to be the fastest growing part of the state budget.
“The question really is, how will we do it in Virginia?” Hazel asked.
In the face of challenges, innovation will be key in improving delivery of care, quality of care and cost, he said. Virginia aims to have an innovation center to test out reform programs.
Yet, federal mandates mean less flexibility. There is also uncertainty about the federal budget, meaning more pressure would be put on the state, he said.
Even as budgets shrink, Virginia expects to enroll between 270,000 and 425,000 more residents into the Medicaid program because of health reform mandates. Currently, roughly 902,000 Virginians are on Medicaid.
Virginia is setting up a health benefit exchange, or electronic marketplace where consumers can shop and buy health insurance, Hazel said. Federal law requires states to have health insurance exchanges, where subsidies are available for those who qualify, by 2014.
Technology - telemedicine, health information exchanges and electronic medical records - has a role in meeting access and efficiency needs, he said. Virginia also needs to address capacity and how to use more people in the system to provide care to more people coming in.
Yet, every region in the state has unique needs.
“I think we’re going to have to do this from the ground up,” Hazel said. “And what you do in Danville, is not going to be the same as in Fairfax or Richmond.”
Dr. Bhushan Pandya, chair of the Gateway Health board of directors and local gastroenterologist, asked how Danville could prepare for such challenges.
Hazel advised the community to have that discussion, come up with rational approaches and expand upon viable pilot projects.
Attendee and Danville Regional Medical Center CEO Eric Deaton agreed with the need for the hospital, doctors and others to come up with ways to improve local health care. He also agreed with Hazel and other attendees that patients must also participate in managing their health.
From an innovation standpoint, the city has the fiber optic backbone to create a medical record health exchange for the city, Deaton said.
“I’m an optimist,” he said. “I don’t think we really have an option but to make it work.”
Pandya agreed Danville leaders, residents and those in health care should come together to make the community healthier.
“It’s an ongoing process,” Pandya said. “Improvement is never stagnant.”
Gateway Health, the city of Danville, Danville Regional and Danville Pittsylvania Academy of Medicine sponsored the meeting.
