Town hall meetings bridge gap between doctors and patients

Chapel Hill played host Thursday to the first of three national town hall meetings designed to promote dialogue about improving health care.

Organized by the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the forum was mediated by Dr. Bill Roper, chief executive officer of UNC Health Care.

A crowd of about 70 turned out to participate in a series of panels with health experts from across the state, as well as officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

"To date this has been a very technical discussion," said Dr. Roper, in reference to the national debate about health care quality and access. "We're trying to make sure the average person on the street knows that they have a stake in this."

The underlying goal of the town hall meetings, Roper said, is to make health care consumers much more active in seeking out information and engaging with their doctors - and to make sure health care professionals are paying attention.

"It's a culture change for us to be responsive," he said.

The ideas and examples put forward to help bring about that culture change included everything from expanding electronic record systems to pestering doctors more often about washing their hands.

"We're asking patients to play a more active role in getting people to wash their hands before an exam," said Dr. Brian Goldstein, chief of staff for UNC Hospitals.

Goldstein noted that infections acquired in hospitals are a huge problem and that increasing the rate of hand-washing among physicians is an easy method of prevention.

A brochure given to patients at UNC Hospitals tells them to ask their doctors about hand-washing, he said.

"Patients are very reluctant to do that, for obvious reasons. Some of us want to put it on the hospital gown, or tattoo it on our chests in case we're ever in a car accident," he joked.

The panel also explored ways to make regular health care sessions a feature of professional life.

Bryan Spivey, human resources manager with Asheboro Elastics Corporation, told stories of transformation among some of his employees when the company arranged to have a nurse practitioner visit on a regular basis.

One woman, he said, decided to change her entire diet and lifestyle and lost nearly 100 pounds after visiting with the practitioner.

"She got herself back," he said. "We're impacting people's lives, and that's why we're so proud of it."

Spivey also stressed that making patients more informed about their health has been a long-term financial boon to the company. Health insurance costs for Asheboro Elastics are down substantially since the implementation of the program, he said.

More knowledgeable patients also will result in better doctors, Roper argued, by allowing them to work together with patients in treating and preventing health problems.

"Consumers are a powerful force - a kick in the seat of the pants, if you will - to get us to do what we should have been doing all along."

The next two town hall meetings will take place later this fall in Philadelphia and Oklahoma City.

"Success breeds success," Spivey said. "As word gets out, people will come if it's a good idea."

 

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.