Video forum brings health care experts together

Arizonans around the state got the chance to speak out on how best to reform health care coverage in a video conference where providers, patients, and civic officials exchanged ideas on quality of care Monday.
 
"Health for Life" is a national forum aimed to reach a common framework to ensure everyone is talking about the same thing, John Rivers, Arizona Hospital and Health Care Association (AHA) CEO, said.
 
Health professionals broadcast live from the University of Arizona College of Medicine at Phoenix and was fed to four locations including Tucson, Flagstaff, and Yuma. It was sponsored by the AHA and co-hosted by the Arizona Hospital and Healthcare Association. Arizona is the 6th state to hold the forum but the first to broadcast it live through satellite video conference.
 
The forum's overall goal to provide health coverage for all, paid for by all is a desirable goal, Pat Walz, Yuma Regional Medical Center chief financial officer said.
 
But no system can cover everybody if there are not enough doctors, he said.
 
"People then will still use the emergency room as their primary care provider, which will drive up medical costs. If you cover more people, health care needs to get more efficient and standardized."
 
He added that hospitals and doctors need to focus on the best practices. They do that by having a uniform standard of which medical procedures are provided and performed nationally.
 
The weakened economy has made a lot more people reliant upon the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS) which provides the majority of care to the uninsured, he said.
 
Michele Cohen, YRMC spokeswoman, noted that 47 percent of YRMC patients are covered by the federal government's Medicare program, while 23 percent are under the state's AHCCCS, 25 percent have commercial insurance, while 4 percent self pay.
 
With a projected $3.3 billion state deficit for the 2009-10 fiscal year, the state legislature has proposed cuts that could cost YRMC $5 million next year, Walz said.
 
"We'll need to either cut it out of our costs or raise it some other way. Either commercial payers pay more or we'll have to raise more through the YRMC Foundation," he said.
 
Anthony Rodgers, AHCCCS director, said one of the keys to bringing down health care costs would be to implement a system of electronic medical records across the nation that would reign in costs by keeping more accurate patient histories and reducing redundant tests.
 
Dr. Robert England, Maricopa County Department of Public Health Director, advised that preventive health care is the easiest thing to do. He noted 80 to 90 percent of expenditures are for chronic care, and much of that is preventable.
 
"Proper nutrition and exercise are essential yet half (state residents) are overweight and 1/4 are obese," England said. "If you want to change behavior, tap into what motivates people."
 
England summed up by noting successful prevention programs through public health departments, such as the campaign against smoking that significantly reduced rates of illnesses and are much more cost-effective.
 
AHA's Rivers said one in five Arizona adults lacked health insurance for at least part of 2008, and as challenging as it is to change, inaction will be more costly. Also, since 2001, health insurance premiums rose four times faster than wages. Three quarters of businesses who do not provide insurance cite cost as the reason.
 
District 24 Rep. Lynne Pancrazi said that the legislature does not provide 100 percent funding for AHCCCS as it is, and said she is really concerned that a "hidden tax" will result for those who are already insured, and they will wind up paying for the system.
 
She also said that it is Rivers who said the state needs to broaden the base, and that means increasing the number of individuals and businesses taxed for services.
 
"It's a better idea than cutting education, health care, or services for seniors and children," Pancrazi said. "Arizona has a lot of exemptions for taxing purposes and Rivers recommended eliminating tax exemptions."
 
Pancrazi said she supports broadening the base, but she added such a proposal will probably not pass in the legislature. Instead, lawmakers will try to cut their way out of the budget deficit, yet there has to be some balance between cuts and revenues.
 
They cannot economize by cuts alone, she said.