Panel focuses on importance of partnerships at ‘Health System of the Future’ event

Former hospital CEO and health care “futurist” Josh Luke, Ph.D. shared his perspective on the policy, payment and program trends shaping “The Health System of the Future” at an event on April 11, 2018 at D’Youville College in Buffalo, NY.

Luke, author of the book “Re-admission Prevention: Solutions Across the Provider Continuum,” offered his expertise on the transformation from the “fee-for-service free-for-all,” to value-based care.

Panelists at the event included Nora OBrien-Suric, Ph.D., president, Health Foundation for Western and Central New York; Jody Lomeo, president and chief executive officer, Kaleida Health; Tom Quatroche, Jr, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer, Erie County Medical Center; and CJ Urlaub, president and CEO of Mercy Hospital in Buffalo and president of D’Youville’s Board of Trustees.

The panel discussed the relevance of Continuum of Care to the future of the health care system on a national and local level, incentives that will facilitate coordination of post-acute care in western New York, the role of new technologies in the development of quality-driven health care systems, and how value-based payment influences the future of the health system in the United States.

To make the most of value based payments in New York state, hospitals will need to work with community-based organizations, OBrien-Suric said.

“We need to expand the definition of continuum of care to non-medical services,” OBrien-Suric said. “Health happens at home, and we have to engage and partner with the community to address the needs of patients as well as their caregivers.”

Hospital executives on the panel agreed that in order to provide the highest quality care at the lowest cost, partnerships with providers in the community are key.

“It’s no longer just a hospital providing care, it needs to be a health care system,” Lomeo said.

Partnerships with community-based organizations to address social determinants of health have already begun across the state, OBrien-Suric noted, including the Western New York Care Collaborative, but more work needs to be done.

To view photos from the event, click here.

A video recording of the event will be posted once it is available.