DENNIS MURPHY. President and CEO of Indiana University Health (Indianapolis)
On the top challenge
"Healthcare providers in Indiana know the grim facts: Indiana continues to fare poorly in health measures. The state ranks 42nd in infant mortality, 41st in percentage of smokers and 34th in drug deaths. Though recent progress has been made on some fronts, the state of Hoosier health remains unacceptable."
On the hospital's response
"Indiana University Health and its hospital peers, along with other stakeholders in public health, have launched promising initiatives to encourage healthier behavior. An impetus is value-based funding, which encourages providers to more efficiently manage the populations they serve to improve overall health. As the state's largest healthcare system, we have embraced value-based care and focused on community health programs around behavioral health, infant mortality and smoking cessation.
In behavioral health, which includes opioid addiction, IU Health plans expanded outpatient addiction clinics and enhanced access to behavioral health services in emergency departments and primary care practices. IU Health has also joined Indiana University in a $50 million statewide effort that will fund new research to fight the opioid epidemic, including analyzing best clinical treatments. It's one of the largest anti-addiction initiatives in the country.
Infant mortality efforts include distributing sleep sacks to new mothers to help prevent Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, putting evidence-based mother/baby safety measures in place at birthing centers, and identifying ZIP codes where babies are at highest risk. IU Health and other hospital systems have also thrown support behind aggressive, state-led smoking cessation efforts that include quit-smoking phone and text hotlines offering one-on-one coaching.
This is a fight for the quality of life in Indiana, and we aim to win it."