Symposium Examines Challenges Facing U.S. Health Care System
Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences and RWJBarnabas Health will host an Academic Health Symposium on Tuesday, Oct. 30
Rutgers Today talked with Brian Strom, chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences (RBHS), about challenges facing the health care system in the U.S. and what they mean for health care in New Jersey in advance of a symposium hosted by Rutgers and RWJBarnabas Health.
The keynote speaker Tuesday will be David Blumenthal, president of The Commonwealth Fund, a national philanthropy engaged in independent research on health and social policy issues. In addition to Strom, the event will include Rutgers President Robert Barchi; Barry Ostrowsky, president and CEO of RWJBarnabas Health; and other Rutgers and RWJBarnabas experts. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. will participate in a panel discussion.
What are the key challenges facing the U.S. health care system?
Nationwide, our health care system faces many complex challenges, although the primary goals are still to improve patient outcomes and to reduce overall spending. Health care affects everyone. You only have to look at surveys around the mid-term elections to see that health care is very important to a majority of voters. One of the biggest challenges is rising costs, which have been increasing at rates that exceed inflation, so America must find alternative ways to organize our health care delivery, making better use of non-physician health care providers, preventing disease and providing care as well for those who are uninsured and who have pre-existing conditions.
Health care regulations and access to care are critical issues as the Trump administration continues to re-evaluate the Affordable Care Act and healthcare providers determine how to handle changes in coverage. Advancements in technology, such as telemedicine, new medical devices and apps and cybersecurity, are changing how we deliver care. A shortage of primary care physicians and how we train and educate healthcare professionals are also key challenges. As a nation, we must develop new strategies and new ways of collaborating to deliver effective services and to put the patient at the center of care.
What do those challenges mean for New Jersey?
In New Jersey, we face the same health care challenges and opportunities that the nation faces as a whole. Namely, how to provide high quality, affordable, compassionate care in ways that are cost-effective and sustainable in the long term. As our state’s academic health center, RBHS takes an integrated approach to educating our students, providing clinical care and conducting research, all with the goal of improving human health. RBHS recognizes the changing health care environment and is positioning itself accordingly. As accountability for patient care shifts to providers, health care is more value-driven and health care teams must embrace interprofessional collaboration and innovation. The focus of health care is becoming population-based rather than individual-based. Large scale is needed to deliver population care. Further, rapid changes in technology are providing new opportunities for patient care and research. Substantial investment is needed in the technology infrastructure to support this, however.
What is RBHS doing to address those challenges?
Rutgers aspires to be recognized as among the nation’s leading public universities – preeminent in research, excellent in teaching and committed to community. As such, RBHS is poised to take advantage of, and excel in, this changing health care environment, with its schools of allied health professions, biomedical sciences, dental medicine, medicine, nursing, public health and pharmacy; its centers and institutes focusing on advanced biotechnology and medicine, brain health, cancer, environmental and occupational health, and health care, health care policy, and aging research, translational medicine and science; and its behavioral health care unit.
Preparing for the challenges of a changing health care environment and addressing the charge to develop a strategic plan, the RBHS community has identified signature programs that are becoming among the best in the nation in cancer, environmental and occupational health, infection and inflammation, neuroscience and community health. These programs are advancing population-based, value-driven health care by building on our recognized clinical and research excellence, engaging with local and global communities, taking advantage of and strengthening our uniquely diverse workforce and realizing interprofessional synergies among our schools and institutes. Further, RBHS is strengthening our many professional ties with state and federal governments and fostering new public-private partnerships with industries critical and vital to New Jersey’s economy.
What role does the Rutgers-RWJBarnabas partnership have in addressing health care challenges in New Jersey?
Our partnership is improving patient access for the residents of New Jersey, reducing health care disparities and offering unsurpassed quality. This partnership created the state’s largest academic health care system dedicated to providing high-quality patient care, leading-edge research and world-class health and medical education that will transform and advance health care in New Jersey. This venture is enhancing the delivery and accessibility of evidence-based health care across the state; boosting the recruitment of prominent academic, research and clinical practitioners; and strengthening the advancement of health science innovation and education.
Together, we are solidifying our commitment to drive advanced research and invest in the health and wellness of the people in our communities throughout the region for many years to come. Patients throughout New Jersey are benefiting from increased access to providers across disciplines, including physicians, nurses, psychologists, dentists, physician assistants, pharmacists, social workers, and behavioral health and addiction professionals. And patients will have access to the newly developed centers of excellence, including groundbreaking medical research and clinical innovation, and to clinicians who are leading scholars and faculty in their fields.