Now that top court has ruled on health care, can we move on?

By Bill Leaver and Ted Townsend

-----

The health care industry has anxiously awaited the Supreme Court opinion on the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. Since its passage, our health system, the largest group of health care providers in Iowa, has invested millions of dollars in carrying out provisions of the ACA - provisions that have nothing to do with the individual mandate, co-ops or Medicaid coverage expansion.

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), bundled payment projects and electronic health records are just a few of the health care delivery provisions of the law in which we've invested. The best-kept secret about these provisions is that they embody concepts supported by Democrats and Republicans.

Now that the court has upheld the law, we breathe a momentary sigh of relief.

Our next reaction is an appeal to the public, policy makers and political campaign staff: Can we move on? Let's not have the upcoming election, lame duck session and 2013 Congress focus on ripping apart health care delivery provisions of the ACA that will lower the cost, increase the quality, and improve the patient experience.

As a country, we face two incredible challenges: one, to balance the budget and reduce our federal debt; second, to ensure that our private sector companies and their employees can be competitive in a global economy. Part of the answer to meeting these challenges is figuring out how to make our health care system deliver better outcomes for patients and be more affordable for all Americans. To do this, we must pay for care differently and clinicians must deliver care differently.

Physicians, nurses and others across Iowa, Illinois and the country are already working on this under provisions of the law. Iowa Health System and Wellmark have entered into an agreement to do this in parts of Iowa.

In one of Iowa Health System's regions, we established one of the first Medicare Accountable Care Organizations in America - an alliance of a hospital, local doctors, home health care providers and a behavioral health center. Working together, these providers emphasize prevention by encouraging electronic and real-time communications between a patient's health care providers, early interventions, disease-management plans and healthy lifestyle counseling. This opportunity was provided by the health law. Already it has led to reduced admissions of chronic disease patients to the emergency room and is helping many patients live healthier lives in their own homes.

Another example is the coordination of primary care and behavioral health care into a coordinated care model to keep patients mentally and physically healthy. Of 500 patients in this “community support system,” only 1 percent of them are admitted for inpatient care per month. This is very low for patients with a mental illness history.

We are already on our way to reforming health care. Let's not get derailed.

Bill Leaver is president and CEO of Iowa Health System, based in Des Moines, the nation's fifth largest non-profit, non-denominational health system. Ted Townsend is president/ CEO of St. Luke's Hospital, Cedar Rapids. Comments: leaverblog@ihs.org and TownseTE@ihs.org