Healthcare for New Jersey, Now What
Featured, Health & Welfare — By editorialstaff on August 14, 2012 at 4:09 PMThe historic Supreme Court decision on June 28, 2012 upheld the individual mandate, a key provision of the Affordable Care Act. It also ruled that the states had the right to choose their participation in the Medicaid expansion without any penalty or loss of federal match for the state Medicaid program if they wanted to opt out. No matter what our position is on the ruling, the reality is that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 is the law of the land. We must seize this opportunity to look for ways to bring improvements and innovations to our current healthcare system. Many participants in the healthcare system — consumers/patients, physicians/providers, hospitals, government agencies, policy makers, insurance companies, pharmaceuticals, and others will be impacted by this. It is going to be important that we work together in private-public partnerships to achieve our goal of high-quality, coordinated, cost-effective access to care, while ensuring that our system is not burdened with bureaucracy and regulatory control.
What are the factors that make New Jersey’s needs unique from other states and why do we need to create a system than meets them? New Jersey ranks third nationally in population diversity and is among the top 10 states with the number of residents age 65 and older. With advanced age we consume more medical care, thus the need to coordinate that care becomes even more important, and New Jersey can, and must, institute its own market-based solutions. Well-designed pilots, such as Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), High ER Utilizer programs, integration of behavioral health services and streamlining end-of-life care should be pursued and customized to support regional healthcare resources. In the area of long-term care, home- and community-based options that support independence, dignity, and consumer choice need to be expanded. They are more cost-effective than nursing homes, and are generally preferred among those in need of long-term care services.
What role can automation play? A 2006 RAND study found that the U.S. healthcare system could save more than $81 billion annually if Healthcare Information Technology (HIT) was widely adopted. Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) can ensure the availability of all relevant, patient-specific medical information at the point of clinical decision-making. The electronic sharing of disparate data can increase administrative efficiencies and help in the evaluation of new techniques and evidence-based medicine by providers. Existing, fragmented systems reduce effectiveness and cause harm, whereas efficient systems can and will save lives.
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