On September 22, 2020, TTUHSC President, Dr. Lori Rice-Spearman unveiled a new vision statement for the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center. It is:
“Transforming health care through innovation and collaboration.”
I think this is great. A challenge to all of us—let’s embrace it. She also said in
a video that the litmus test is: is this innovative, collaborative, and does it move the model of health care forward
in a positive fashion?
We all know that there is no shortage of items in need of transformation. And, of
course there are new things to be developed. Innovations yet to be discovered. Why
do I say there is no shortage of things to be transformed?
I read recently that in 1960, Time Magazine reported that 5% of the gross domestic
product was spent on health care. Today, that number is close to 17%. Let’s do something
about health care costs. Bring value to the purchaser. Improve access. Furthermore,
it is well-documented that we are not the leading nation among developed nations in
terms of quality health metrics. Let’s accelerate our work in measuring outcomes.
Let’s strive to keep people healthy.
One idea for our transformational work is to utilize the triple-aim framework. This
goes back to 2008, when the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) released it.
The framework seeks optimal performance by focusing on the elements of patient experience,
health of populations, and per capita cost reduction. This is just my opinion, but
if we start our efforts to transform health care through one or more of these--improving
patient care, improving the patient experience, and improving (lowering) costs, it
would be a wonderful service to individuals and society.
By the way, some add a fourth component to the triple aim framework: improving the
work life of health care providers, including clinicians and staff. With the insistent
stressors in delivering health care, we need to remember to take care of ourselves
and others. Some of the stressors are inefficient workflows, longer hours, and greater
documentation requirements, plus with COVID-19 being thrown into the mix, it is more
important than ever to address potential burnout. Improving work life - a fourth item,
ripe for innovation and collaboration. No shortage of opportunities.
Have a great week!