Log on to changenow4health.com, and that's the message that "welcomes" you to the new website. These days, it's tough to find anyone who disagrees with that statement.
- Not in an era when healthcare costs are rising so much faster than the overall inflation rate…
- Not at a time when so many employers are struggling to afford meaningful, health benefits for their employees…
- Not when Americans are rightfully asking why we pay more and get less for our healthcare dollar than the citizens of so many other industrialized nations.
Although Humana has just launched changenow4health.com, it's not a site focused on our company, or what we offer. In fact, you'll have to look hard to see any mention of Humana. We built the site to create an ongoing dialogue to reform healthcare. It's an effort to report on progress regarding different healthcare initiatives in the U.S. … to share the best practices in consumerism and transparency … and to highlight individuals and groups who are focused on improving healthcare outcomes and quality.
In otherwords, we intend to focus on what is working today in healthcare, and what lessons we can take from the best, success stories across the country.
"Separately, we'll fail. We must come together to solve key problems."
The site highlights the fact that our system will improve only if consumers, brokers, employers, health care providers and health plans all work together to bring about meaningful, lasting change.
A section titled, “What can you do?” details how each key stakeholder can contribute to positive change. The “provider” section, for instance, points out that in a recent Commonwealth Fund survey, doctors rated "spending more time with patients" and "better patient access to preventive care" ahead of all other factors in improving quality of care. Also, 35 percent said, "improved teamwork and communication" are very important, and 25 percent said, "more use of computer technology" is a key to improving care.
So, based on survey results such as this, the site encourages providers to embrace technology. cChangenow4health.com also includes real–life examples of how providers are doing this.
Everyone has a part to play The site makes it easy for visitors to submit thoughts on what is working in their communities – ideas others could benefit from in other settings. The site's administrators will review all of the submissions closely and then make the best ones available to all of the site's visitors.
This is just one way you can contribute your ideas and input.
More than anything, I would simply recommend that you take a look at the site and encourage family, friends and neighbors to look at it as well. If we're going to succeed at changing healthcare now, we know that can't happen if there's no heightened sense of urgency. We mean it when we say “now” … not later. Obviously, some change is incremental. We can't reform the entire system in a day. But the more attention we pay to this, the more urgency we bring to our work, the sooner we can all contribute to making the system work more responsively for all of us.
"Everyone must step up to play their part right now. We can't wait for an exhaustive five–year study period, followed by a gradual, roll–out of a minor adjustment to a current process."
That's the kind of blunt language you'll find on this site. What is your part? What can you do NOW to take action? Begin by taking a look at changenow4health.com.
