Aug. 28--HARRISBURG -- Providing better care to patients with chronic conditions like diabetes, asthma and heart disease is a key part of the formula to control escalating health care costs in Pennsylvania, participants at a statewide forum said Wednesday.
Dr. Glenn Steele Jr., president of Geisinger Health System, addressed issues involving chronic care at the event sponsored by the Hospital & Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania and aired on Pennsylvania Cable Network.
He said health care professionals need to find ways to provide continuing care to patients with chronic illnesses so they don't end up at hospitals for extended stays.
Part of the solution lies in providing incentives to ease a shortage of primary care doctors in Pennsylvania, he added.
"We've got to pay primary care physicians more," said Dr. Steele. "We need more primary care physicians to take care of chronic disease."
Dr. Steele's statements came as Gov. Ed Rendell's administration is implementing a plan to provide outpatient treatment to chronic care patients. The plan calls for creating teams of medical professionals to treat chronic care patients and obtaining agreements with regional insurers to reimburse medical treatment on an outpatient basis.
The initiative is under way in the Philadelphia area and is expected to reach Northeast Pennsylvania either later this year or early 2009. The Rendell administration estimates that treatment of chronic cases accounted for $4 billion worth of avoidable hospital expenses last year in Pennsylvania.
The panelists, who came mainly from the medical and business communities, tackled issues ranging from providing coverage to an estimated 900,000 uninsured Pennsylvanians, spreading the burden of paying for health care and determining whether hospices or intensive care units are the best places for the terminally ill.
Kevin Shivers, state director for the National Federation of Independent Business-Pennsylvania, questioned whether it's prudent for Pennsylvania to rely on revenues from the national tobacco industry settlement and higher state cigarette taxes to pay for expanded health programs. He cited the statewide smoking ban that takes effect Sept. 11 as an example of a conflicting state policy aimed at reducing tobacco use.
"As revenue declines from tobacco usage, then ultimately these (health program) revenues are going to be coming from someplace else," added Mr. Shivers.
With the Legislature expected to be in session only nine or 10 days this fall, panelists agreed that time is short to tackle health care issues outlined by Mr. Rendell in early 2007. Lawmakers return to session Sept. 15.
"We still have a lot of this agenda left," said Larry Clark, legislative director of Mr. Rendell's health care reform office.
High on the agenda is reaching agreement on legislation to expand a state-subsidized health care program to cover tens of thousands of working adults. The House has passed a measure sponsored by Rep. Todd Eachus, D-116, to provide coverage for thousands of lower-income adults, ages 19 to 64, who have gone without health insurance for at least six months.
Mr. Eachus is working to build grassroots support for his measure by holding policy committee hearings across the state.
Contact the writer: rswift@timesshamrock.com
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