Mark Trahant is a Kaiser Media Fellow examining the Indian Health Service and its relevance to the national health care reform debate. He is a member of Idaho’s Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Comment here.

Mark Trahant

But what if one or more steps are eliminated? Well, two things happen: costs drop and patient care often improves.

How does less produce more? The answer is to shift the focus of the story – the programming – from the “doctor” to the patient.

For example, at the Alaska Native Medical Center in Anchorage, that relationship is described as working, “With the patient as the hub, the team includes the patient’s family, the primary care physician, a nurse case manager, certified medical assistants, case management support, a social worker, and a behavioral health specialist. Additional ‘virtual’ team members include health educators, midwives, nutritionists, and pharmacists. Many specialists (including chiropractors, massage, acupuncture and ‘usual’ medical specialists) are ‘layered’ in.

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Tags: Affiliated Computer Services Inc., Alaska Native Medical Center, American Medical Association, buffalo post, Fort Defiance, Gwen Florio, Health care reform, Mark Trahant, National Congress of American Indians, Native American news, Navajo Nation, The Indian Health Service

Mark Trahant is a Kaiser Media Fellow examining the Indian Health Service and its relevance to the national health care reform debate. He is a member of Idaho’s Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Comment here.

Mark Trahant

Today I’m excited for the government. Health care reform should bring nutrition to a starving Indian health system. And, if the next test for health care reform is execution, then the government might be on the right course. The New York Times reported Sunday that Dr. Donald Berwick is the president’s choice to head the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services.

This is a choice that exceeds Moynihan’s rareness of competency. Berwick represents the ideal, the one person you think could help the government, the people and the medical profession come together and a coalesce around the idea of excellent health care. Last December at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement conference I watched hundreds of professionals cheer on Berwick as they would a rock star. This is a doctor who’s willing to talk about what’s really important to people. “Health care has no intrinsic value at all. None, Health does. Joy does. Peace does,” he said in December. “The best hospital bed is empty. The best CT scan is the one we don’t need. The best doctor’s visit is the one we don’t need.”

Imagine that. Doctors we don’t need.

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Tags: Alaska Native Medical Center, Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services, Children's Health Insurance Program, Dr. Donald Berwick, Escaping Fire: Designs for the Future of Health Care, Gwen Florio, Health care reform, Indian Health Service, Institute for Healthcare Improvement, Mark Trahant, Medicaid, Medicare, Native American news, Southcentral Foundation

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Mark Trahant is a Kaiser Media Fellow examining the Indian Health Service and its relevance to the national health care reform debate. He is a member of Idaho’s Shoshone-Bannock Tribes. Comment here.

Mark Trahant

• Colorful banners remind visitors that the entire campus is tobacco free;

• There are many gathering places scattered about for family and community with the finest in traditional art showcased;

• And, in waiting areas, there are open computer terminals for people to research their own health information. Signs remind patients that if you’ve been waiting more than 15 minutes, talk to someone.

This is what the Indian Health system should look like across the country. “No,” a friend corrected me, “this is what the U.S. health care system should look like.”

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Tags: Alaska Native Medical Center, Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, buffalo post, Cook Inlet Region Inc., Health care reform, Indian Health Service, Indian Self-Determiniation and Education Assistance Act of 1975, Mark Trahant, Nuka, Southcentral Foundation