If Health Care Is Going to Change, Dr. Brent James's Ideas Will Change It

Missing a doctor's appointment has a significant cost. Hospitals lose money and doctors lose time that they could be using to attend to other patients. Dr. Alex King believes that through testing and then implementing certain behavioral nudges, hospitals will stop losing as much money and patients will benefit from a better experience.

Hospitals in New York improve healthcare quality and reduce medical costs by staying in frequent contact with patients requiring frequent or long-term care. Montefiore's Accountable Care Organization pulls in care providers from across the medical and social spectrum to improve patient health while curbing expenses.

The Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF) provided by the federal government is increasing healthcare access for vulnerable populations by renovating dilapidated hospitals and improving access to reliable medical services and resources like medications and potable water.

A hospital in Nigeria has implemented the use of an electronic medical record (EMR) system for patients to decrease mismanagement practices and increase transparency and accountability. The card that patients are given resembles an ATM card and acts as a means of health records and payment information.

Maryland's health care system is based on three pillars – all-payer rate setting, a global budget, and total cost of care – that, together, have shown positive results both for the patients and for the state's hospitals. Although evidence of success with regard to health care costs is limited, the model of incentiving investment in community health and preventive care has shown success in reducing readmission rates for hospitals across the state.

Crider Health Center was having trouble coordinating the communication between psychiatry and primary care physicians. In 2012, under the Affordable Care Act, Crider and dozens of other mental health centers in the state of Missouri, received federal funds to pilot “integrated care” for Medicaid recipients as part of the new public policy. The funds have enabled social service agencies to work together with hospitals and mental health centers so that patients receive cost-saving, comprehensive care.

More than five million Americans have Alzheimer’s or similar illnesses, and that number is growing as the population ages - without any immediate prospect of a cure, advocacy groups have begun promoting ways to offer people with dementia a comfortable decline instead of imposing on them a medical model of care, which seeks to defer death through escalating interventions. An Arizona nursing home offers new ways to care for people with dementia.

The Safer Hands Health Initiative (SHI) aims to reduce maternal mortality across the country by educating and empowering birth attendants, healthcare centers and pregnant women to use safe delivery practices. SHI partners with medical boards and area hospitals to provide free training for birth attendants and also provides sterile birthing kits to expectant mothers. So far, SHI has trained over 200 birth attendants and has distributed more than 10,000 birthing kits.

Uganda has introduced community health insurance plans that helps serve those who do not find the free health insurance suffienct but find private insurance too expensive. Although it doesn't appease everyone and some drop out after joining, it has still served more than 10,000 people since implementation.

Switzerland is home to the world's lowest avoidable mortality rate and residents of the country live longer lives and are healthier than those who live in the United States. Health policy experts credit the Swiss health care system for playing a significant role. Despite the high cost and the penalty for not carrying insurance, the system is praised as guarateeing access to quality health-care and "unlike the U.S., people rarely go bankrupt from medical bills."