Zen and the Art of Dying Well

Hoag Memorial Hospital Presbyterian, under pressure from the insurance network to lower maternity costs, used a number of tools to lower the rate of cesarean sections done. The changes not only helped drastically reduce costs, but created a better, safer birth outcomes for patients.

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.

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.

For decades, Franklin County's comprehensive healthcare plan has kept its residents some of the healthiest people in Maine despite being some of the poorest as well. Now, Oregon is looking to do the same.

Mongolia, under the influence of Dr. Odontuya Davaasuren, has become very advanced in its palliative care. Patients are given full information about their diagnosis, are provided with the proper pain medications, families are involved and guided and spiritual considerations are included creating a better system of care.

Many U.S. medical systems are using medical-legal partnerships to help disadvantaged patients who need help navigating problems with landlords and insurers that interfere with their health.

California has taken perhaps the most proactive stance in the nation in enforcing laws to ensure people with mental illnesses have fair and timely access to care. But even in this state, it’s proving difficult to ensure mental patients truly have equal access to treatment. New laws aim to hold insurers and health care providers accountable.

Dr. Brent James, chief quality officer at Intermountain Healthcare, came up with a system for regulating and improving healthcare in the Intermountain medical region and at other hospitals nationwide. He teaches a program called the Advanced Training Program that draws physicians and hospital administrators from all over the country. His method is simple; his team develops best care standards for an array of common medical ailments by regulating the care that is suggested to doctors, monitoring patient outcomes based on these practices, and refining the literature to be even more accurate.

Studies show that spending more money on healthcare, past a certain level of care, worsens patient outcomes. Mayo Clinic has one of the highest-quality for the lowest cost healthcare systems in the nation. They achieve this by pooling all of the revenue from the hospital system and the doctors and paying everyone a salary, removing the incentive to increase personal revenue by increasing spending, and encouraging physicians to work with their colleagues and their teams to provide a higher level of patient care.

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.