Healthcare reform is a hot button snagging headlines for years now. What comes to mind when you think about reforming medical care? When most Americans hear the word “reform” we associate the definition with the Affordable Care Act. While this legislation certainly seeks to bridge the gap of care, here at Innova Primary Care, we believe that healthcare reform is more than policy. The healthcare system in the US is complex and fraught with issues. This does not mean that we cannot begin to implement the changes we long desired to see in healthcare.

Healthcare Reform To Date

The inception and implementation of the Affordable Care Act sought to remedy at least some of the contributing factors to our broken system. In layman’s terms, because let’s be honest deciphering legislation terminology can feel like an endless loop of confusion, The ACA seeks to:

Regulate healthcare costs

Equip all Americans with access to healthcare

Put quality of care at the forefront

Oversee private insurance in a way that benefits all

Insurance reform in the form of the individual mandate

These are all valid and necessary changes that need to be made in the healthcare system as it works today. The ACA has been met with both accolade and condemnation. At the current time, the ACA is still in existence but penalties for the uninsured in most states under the individual mandate no longer apply.

While changes in healthcare that the ACA accounts for are certainly necessary, we believe that reform includes so much more than insurance and access. Wasteful spending, lack of communication, coverage gaps, patient-centered care, and lack of rural care are just some of the issues that encompass reform. Change starts at the most foundational level. Let’s dive deeper into Innova’s commitment to renew healthcare from the inside out.

Renewing Healthcare From The Inside Out

Change starts here at Innova. Renewal is at the heart of everything we do here. A broken healthcare system serves no one. We can start right here right now.

Have you ever visited a medical practice and felt like you were just a number, a name to check of the list? Picture that appointment in your mind. You walk into the office with questions only to leave the appointment with more. You did not feel like your physician was truly invested in your care. This simply will not do. Every patient deserves to know that their healthcare practitioner is on their side. This means that providers listen. They ask appropriate questions. Physicians must place the patient at the heart of the matter.

Innova Primary Care is committed to patient-centered care as a methodology because it works. When patients feel like they are of value and their opinions matter they are more likely to follow treatment protocols. When doctors and their patients work together, a foundation of trust allows for the best care possible. This is vital for healthcare as a whole. We must begin to listen wholeheartedly to one another.

Patient-centered care does not mean that the patient is always right. This isn’t fast food. This is lifesaving work. What we mean by this term is that patients and their care teams work together. Clinicians inform patients and offer advice and support. Patients, armed with this necessary information and treatment options, are then capable of making informed decisions about their care.

This leads us to the next component of reform: communication. Here we are specifically referring to communication between providers and those they serve. Reform, at the most basic level, occurs when patients and their physicians communicate effectively. Research shows a positive relationship between communication and patient behavior. Communication affects health outcomes, satisfaction rates, treatment adherence, and more.

Communication means patients leave the office with a plan they understand and are confident in.

Not only does effective communication between physicians and their patients spur on health, but it is also necessary at every step. Many patients visit more than one doctor. They may have a primary care physician and see multiple specialists. But what happens when your care team does not communicate with one another? In order to prevent duplicate testing, unnecessary procedures, and even medicine interactions, Innova Primary Care participates in an ACO, an accountable care organization.

Accountable Care Organizations are groups of physicians, specialists, and hospital systems that voluntarily come together to provide coordinated care for their patients. This means fewer errors and better patient experience. You, the patient, aren’t paying for services you do not need. You are not left to decipher potential medication interactions and communicate with your specialists. Your team works for you by communicating effectively. Better care. More savings. Less worry. Communication equates to confidence. When you are a confident patient you believe that your physicians care for your needs, understand your concerns, and put your well being first.

Healthcare reform seems like a vast ocean. Where do we begin to remedy all that is wrong with the current state of healthcare? While this is a huge and complex issue, Innova Primary Care believes that change starts right here at home. We cannot shift the way current medicine is done, but we can spark and implement the changes we want to see at our practice. We hope you see and experience the difference when you enter our doors.