Schwimmer Script Blog
Healthy Communities Create Healthy Citizens
The best medicine — and the best way to build healthy communities — is not always a drug or diagnostic test. What if doctors could write prescriptions for healthy cooking classes? Or send patients for long walks in local gardens? What if community leaders could help corner stores sell fresh fruits and vegetables? No one…Read More…
Change in Health Care is Coming — Are New Jersey Doctors Ready for the Revolution?
The leader of the nation’s most important health care payer joined us at our Spring Conference last week and showed us the future — a future with fundamental changes in the way we pay for and deliver health care. Sean Cavanaugh was our keynote speaker. He is Director of the Center for Medicare at CMS and…Read More…
In NJ, Hospital Data Transparency Reaches High Levels, But Not High Enough Yet
People come to hospitals for care at their most vulnerable moments. They literally put their lives in the hands of health care institutions — the emergency department physicians or the ICU nurses or the operating room surgeons. For years patients made decisions about where to seek treatment without any real information about whether one hospital…Read More…
‘Strong Start’ for Babies is Smart Way To Invest in Medicaid
The best ways to improve health care do not always require new drugs, sophisticated technology or money. Common sense and compassion, as well as an understanding of human nature, can help us advance health and change lives. One such effort in New Jersey is making a powerful difference in the lives of mothers and babies…Read More…
Promoting Wellness Promotes Unity
Too often I find myself frustrated and disheartened by the intolerance and hateful speech that has emerged from our current political landscape. I’m provided with relief, however, every Sunday when I meet my friend Leslie on the Delaware & Raritan Canal towpath, where dozens of people of varying ages, ethnicities, and races are brought together…Read More…
States Can Support Claims Data Transparency Despite Supreme Court Decisions
The U.S. Supreme Court has delivered a blow against the efforts by states to track health care quality and costs. States need data from all payers in their states to monitor the success of their policy reforms. That data comes from the All-Payer Claims Database, or APCD, which are large, state-run databases that collect claims…Read More…
Inject Sanity Into Health Care Record Keeping and Measurement
Perhaps you’ve heard some version of the saying: You can’t manage what you can’t measure. We need clearly defined measures to gauge the steps toward improvement and objective criteria to determine if we have achieved true progress. In health care we’ve seen how gathering measurements can advance care. Take hospital- acquired infections. By using defined…Read More…
Moving the Affordable Care Act Forward
The Affordable Care Act is becoming less affordable. Premiums are rising and so are deductibles and out-of-pocket expenses. Costs are increasing for both employers and consumers. And last year national health expenditures jumped 5.3 percent. (In 2013 the jump was 2.9 percent.) The nation’s health care bill is not growing as fast as it did…Read More…
New Era, New Challenges at Quality Institute
By Linda J. Schwimmer, JD I know you are accustomed to seeing Dave Knowlton’s views in this space as he shared his singular insight surrounding health care with all of you for the past several years. As I take over the reins at the Quality Institute — and Dave enjoys his much-deserved retirement — I hope you…Read More…
It Takes a Village to Support the ‘Conversation of a Lifetime’
One of the Quality Institute’s most innovative and exciting initiatives is Conversation of a Lifetime, a part of our Mayors Wellness Campaign. I’ve asked our Director of Community Health, Janan Dave, to take over my blog today to report on this effort. Janan has been engaging New Jersey mayors to encourage important end-of-life discussions among…Read More…