Dartmouth teaches Tulsans ways to improve health care
BY SHANNON MUCHMORE World Staff Writer
Thursday, February 07, 2013
2/07/13 at 8:11 AM
Four Tulsans have completed a new program at Dartmouth College in which they studied ways to make health outcomes better while reducing costs and improving patient interaction.
The four graduates were part of the inaugural class of 45 and received a master's of health care delivery science degree.
They are Dr. David Adelson, vice president for development, planning and innovation at the University of Oklahoma-Tulsa; Tom Adelson, a former state senator; Monica Basu, a senior program officer with the George Kaiser Family Foundation; and Jeff Alderman, medical director of the Sooner Health Access Network.
The four presented some of what they learned at a recent lecture at OU-Tulsa.
In introducing the group, OU-Tulsa President Dr. Gerard Clancy said the United States, and Oklahoma in particular, ranks toward the bottom in health outcomes, despite spending twice as much as other countries.
Programs such as the one at Dartmouth can help reverse this, he said.
"They (the four graduates) can take this and do something about it," he said.
Three areas of study were the fundamentals of the health care delivery system, management of the health care ecosystem and inventing the future of health care.
Tom Adelson said the current fee-for-service reimbursement method rewards volume of care, not value.
New models should be developed with primary care at the nexus, he said.
Lifestyle choices are the main social determinant of health. Payment needs to be proactive, not reactive, he said.
Alderman said there's no silver bullet. There needs to be different spending, not more.
"What we really want to focus on is how to build a better health care system, rather than rescue care," he said.
Health care organizations should look at how best to use existing community resources, rather than building more infrastructure, he said.
After the presentation, Basu said the graduates can implement what they learned by helping to develop pilot programs and acting as consultants for hospitals, businesses and other organizations.
Alderman said they invested their time to help the community.
"We just hope to help anybody that asks us," he said.
Original Print Headline: Four Tulsans study ways to improve health care
Shannon Muchmore 918-581-8378
shannon.muchmore@tulsaworld.com
Associated Images:
David Adelson (left), Tom Adelson and Monica Basu: They and Jeff Alderman (not pictured) studied ways to make health outcomes better while reducing the costs and improving patient interaction
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