In its report “For the Public’s Health: Investing in a Healthier Future,” the Institute of Medicine found that “it is no longer sufficient to expect that reforms in the medical care delivery system alone will improve the public’s health” and that investing in more upstream causes of ill health could significantly improve health outcomes in the United States.
Almost all U.S. health spending goes to “sick care” rather than to prevention, thereby missing opportunities to stop health problems before they become more burdensome and costly. Studies have estimated that factors outside the traditional health care setting—behavior patterns, environmental issues and social circumstances—account for more than half of the causes of premature death.
This forum explored opportunities to improve the health of Ohioans by addressing the many factors that shape health beyond the doctor’s office.
PRESENTATIONS
- “Realigning Health with Care” — Dr. Heidi Behforouz, Associate Physician in the Division of Global Health Equity at Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH) and Medical and Executive Director of the Prevention and Access to Care and Treatment (PACT) Project
- “Addressing Upstream Causes of Poor Health” — Rick Brush, Founder & CEO, Collective Health, and Executive Director, Health Initiative Coordinating Council (HICCup)
Additional resources
- “Realigning Health with Care” by Rebecca Onie, Paul Farmer and Heidi Behforouz. Stanford Social Innovation Review, Summer 2012.
- “Can Pay for Success Reduce Asthma Emergencies and Reset a Broken Health Care System?” by Rick Brush, published by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, April 2013.
- “Healthier by Design: Creating Accountable Care Communities: A Framework for Engagement and Sustainability,” pubished by the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron, February 2013.
