Principles

The State of Oregon is known for its leadership on many difficult issues associated with health care policy and reform. From the hard work associated with the establishment of the original ground-breaking Oregon Health Plan to the more recent legislative success at enacting parity in mental health care, Oregon’s health care community and legislative leadership have consistently demonstrated strong collaborative ties.

The OHSU School of Medicine is proud to have contributed to health care breakthroughs and delivery innovation over the years. Today, as our state’s health care system faces perhaps the most significant and seemingly intractable problems in its history, we are committed to joining others in developing policy and care delivery solutions that will improve access to high quality health care for all Oregonians.

We support the Oregon Health Fund Board’s goal of crafting and presenting a viable and comprehensive plan for health care reform to the 2009 legislature, as well as other ongoing efforts to reform our health care system. As such, we present the following “Statement of Essential Principles” to consider as part of health care reform deliberations. The OHSU School of Medicine:

1. Supports universal access to a defined set of health care services for all children and adults that is paid for in ways that are not exclusively linked to employment.
2. Believes that a defined set of health care services in a universal access framework should include all health services that are demonstrably beneficial, including tertiary and quaternary health care, in order to guarantee equal access to care and to prevent continuation of inequities in the current system which ties delivery of care to economic status.
3. Believes that a geographically well-distributed health care workforce, accurately mirroring in capacity and diversity the population it serves, is critical to ensuring long-term quality and access in Oregon. Funding for recruiting, educating and keeping workforce skills current is also critical. Further, health care reform must find ways to utilize all providers to the full benefit/extent of their education and training.
4. Supports an aggressive focus on preventive health care to both improve quality and reduce costs, including promotion of and reward for healthy lifestyles.
5. Believes that the long-term viability of universal access depends on the full and equitable participation of all health care providers and systems (and the event of opting out by a provider or health care system should not disadvantage those electing to participate).
6. Supports a compassionate evaluation of end-of-life care and the adoption of health care delivery models that support end-of-life decision-making and options for patients and families.
7. Believes that quality health care is linked to outcomes transparency and that incremental improvements in standards of care require support for both evidence-based practices and mechanisms to incorporate real-time outcomes feedback in quality initiatives. However, leaps in health care quality and outcomes are also a result of discovery and innovation, and a reform proposal must find ways to reward and adopt innovations and discoveries.
8. Supports more effective deployment of information technology, including but not limited to portable electronic health care records.

Last modified April 23, 2008

Comments

[Kathleen]

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[penis size]

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