Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/759108
86 STRATEGY & INNOVATION BJC HealthCare CEO: 5 Recommendations for Improving Direction of US Healthcare By Tamara Rosin T o address the evolving needs of the U.S. healthcare system, Steven Lipstein, president and CEO of St. Louis-based BJC HealthCare, and Arthur Kellermann, MD, dean of the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., published a paper in JAMA outlining the recommendations for restruc- turing healthcare to support more efficient, targeted healthcare delivery. e paper, called "Workforce for 21st Centu- ry Health and Health Care," summarizes the recommendations of a National Academy of Medicine writing team comprised of health- care leaders and chaired by Mr. Lipstein and Dr. Kellermann. "Today, the healthcare system is transitioning from the traditional fee-for-service approach toward value-based models of care delivery," the authors wrote. "Within these models, care delivery and management are intended to be more patient- and person-centric and made more efficient by keeping people healthy and reducing duplicative or unnecessary ser- vices." For a successful transition, Mr. Lip- stein and Dr. Kellermann point to the need for seamless coordination between healthcare providers, integrated approaches to care and segmenting the population by health condi- tions. Here are five recommendations for improv- ing U.S. healthcare delivery, according to the article. 1. Encourage front-line healthcare providers to act as stewards of pop- ulation health. According to Mr. Lip- stein and Dr. Kellermann, expanding the healthy population could have significant trickle-down effects on healthcare spend- ing in the U.S., as healthy people utilize far fewer healthcare services than those who are seriously ill or injured. Strong popula- tion health management initiatives will re- quire a diverse and multidisciplinary work- force comprised of physicians, physician assistants, registered nurses, social workers, nutritionists, exercise physiologists, public health professionals and other healthcare workers. 2. Utilize telehealth. "Various examples of telehealth services have demonstrated that patients do not need to travel long distances to realize optimal primary care outcomes," the authors wrote. "With appropriate train- ing and access for health professionals and the people they serve, many patients will no longer be limited to receiving needed ser- vices at fixed sites of practice." e best can- didates for telehealth include patients who incur minor episodes of illness or injury and who do not need a clinical procedure or di- agnostic tests. 3. Reduce costs by better targeting services. Caring for patients who experi- ence major episodes of illness or injury of-