When the president of the AMA issues a call to action to physicians, it usually is related to reimbursement cuts, malpractice litigation, or another familiar advocacy issue tied to the business of medicine. But when AMA President Ronald M. Davis, MD, addressed physicians in an AMA eVoice column last week, he asked for physician commitment to a different cause—making healthcare “green.”
“I urge you to make your practice greener in ways that are ecologically sustainable, are safe for public health and the environment, and promote good patient care,” he wrote, going on to suggest that environmental awareness should be a part of medical school courses and continuing physician education.
Will physicians heed his call? Some have already gone green. New Orleans ophthalmologist Eric Griener, MD, decided to emphasize environmentally-friendly building principles when designing and constructing a new eye clinic. Alan Greene, MD, (yes, that’s his real name) has found a nice marketing niche for himself as a prominent “green pediatrician.”
The benefits of going green in healthcare construction and marketing have already been demonstrated for hospitals—technology editor Gary Baldwin has covered eco-friendly technological innovations for HealthLeaders Magazine and marketing editor Gienna Shaw has written about the benefits of waving the green flag. The same basic principles hold true for physician practices, though there are limitations.
The reimbursement and cost woes that seem to permeate every aspect of physician practice management also limit the amount of time and resources physicians can dedicate to environmentally friendly medical practices, at least for now. Given the challenges physicians are facing in implementing EMR systems—which provide significant ancillary environmental benefits by reducing paper usage—asking for more extensive facility redesign or green marketing efforts may be too ambitious, particularly for small and medium-sized practices that are struggling financially. When given the choice between purchasing carbon offsets and investing in medical equipment, I think we know what most doctors will have to choose.
But, as Davis points out, health and the environment are inextricably linked, and many physicians are naturally inclined toward environmentalism. For now, most of these physicians will take incremental steps, focusing on simple practice improvements that don’t require heavy investment (energy efficient light bulbs, to use a basic example, can actually save practices money).
For an idea of where healthcare environmentalism might be headed, however, look to the North. Last fall, the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) voted overwhelmingly to encourage physicians to discuss environmental issues with patients, reduce and recycle practice waste, and include environmental programs in medical education. The AMA has a less-ambitious environmental policy, and Davis considers the CMA’s environmentally-friendly meetings an inspiration.
Healthcare is headed toward greener pastures, though the road may be slow-going. Have you made an environmentally friendly practice improvement? I’d love to hear about it.
Lawanda Jackson, a former administrative specialist at UCLA Medical Center, has been indicted by a federal grand jury for allegedly selling information to the media from medical records of celebrity patients. Jackson was indicted on a charge of obtaining individually identifiable health information for commercial advantage. Actress Farrah Fawcett and her lawyers allege that Jackson leaked personal information about Fawcett's battle with cancer to tabloids.
St. Joseph's Hospital will help the Lawrenceville, GA-based Gwinnett Medical Center operate its cardiac services program, pending approval from the Georgia Department of Community Health. GMC and St. Joseph's will jointly own and manage the newly created Gwinnett Cardiovascular Services. St. Joseph's doctors will offer consultation, training and support to Gwinnett Medical Center.
BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has begun covering visits to the dozen retail clinics operated by Take Care Health Systems inside Nashville-area Walgreens. With the addition of BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, about 80 percent of the Nashville area's insured residents are covered at a Take Care Health Clinic.
The flu bug that hit the nation earlier this year is showing up when it comes to first-quarter financial results. For hospitals, more patients coming into their doors should mean more revenues and more earnings if they were able to keep costs under check. But any windfall depends on how severe the flu bug was that hit the parts of the country. Health plans, however, have seen their costs rise from the increased hospital visits.
Joliet, IL-based Silver Cross Hospital will pledge to spend at least $40 million over the next 10 years to care for underinsured and uninsured patients in Will County if a state board allows it to relocate to New Lenox. The "charity care" payments are part of a growing package of incentives the hospital has assembled to ease concerns of patients and soothe tensions with officials who have opposed the relocation plan. The $4 million charity plan also includes $8 million toward the redevelopment of the current hospital and the creation of a non-profit Healthy Community Commission dedicated to improving health conditions in the city.
New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine said he is open to using a "sin tax" to help provide funding for struggling hospitals. Amy Mansue, of Children's Specialized Hospital, suggested a fast food tax during a meeting between Corzine and hospital leaders on proposed state hospital and healthcare aid cuts. Corzine called the idea "a constructive suggestion" to help offset $2.7 billion in proposed cuts to try to fix finances plagued by deficits and high debt and taxes. Hospitals have warned Corzine that slicing aid would bring closed hospitals, lost jobs and longer waits for medical care.
New Hampshire has enlisted all of its hospitals and surgery centers in a hand-washing campaign called High Five for a Healthy New Hampshire. The goal is to reduce patient infections that could be easily prevented with hand hygeine. The campaign educates medical staff about the importance of hand hygiene, and places hand cleansers and sanitizers in convenient places.
More than half of U.S. hospitals aren't seeing enough patients to provide sufficient revenue to fund operations and are "teetering on the brink of insolvency" or already are insolvent, according to a study by restructuring firm Alvarez & Marsal. More than 2,000 of the nearly 3,900 acute-care hospitals the firm studied don't make a profit treating patients. Nearly 750 hospitals that do turn a profit still don't have enough to reinvest in improvements or other essential expenditures, according to the study.
Medicare is lurching toward disaster and the next administration will have to act to stop rising costs and get control of the $400 billion federal health insurance plan for the elderly, U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said during a speech. Leavitt said paying for each medical action separately is wasteful and "it often results in bad referral decisions, sloppy hand-offs, duplications, fraud, and poor quality of care. The result is inappropriate care and unnecessary cost."
