Hospitals and clinics across California are increasingly participating in programs that aim to show community members how much of an impact healthy eating and exercise can have on their health, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Glenn Melnick, PhD, a professor of health economics at USC, said the healthcare system is slowly adapting to a changing reality. Prior to the passage of the ACA, providers made money by billing patients and insurance companies for the services they performed. As the industry transitions to value-based payment, however, physicians are "increasingly paid a lump sum to provide all of a patient's medical treatments for a year, instead of the typical fee-for-service model…so hospitals can save money when patients don't need medical care," according to Dr. Melnick.
Jennifer Bayer, vice president of external affairs with the Hospital Association of Southern California, said clinics and hospitals have tried to encourage lifestyle changes for years. Ms. Bayer also said recent efforts have been "a little more proactive" because they are aimed at everyone, not just individuals who already have medical problems.
Hospitals and clinics involved in healthy lifestyle programs include:
- Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente, which sponsored weekly farmers markets at more than 50 of its facilities across the country.
- Irvine, Calif.-based St. Joseph Hoag Health, which had physicians and nutritionists visit various grocery stores across Orange County.
- Los Angeles-based AltaMed, which worked with convenience store owners to replace candy and chips at checkout stands with fruits and vegetables.
- Torrance (Calif.) Memorial Medical Center, which opened a community garden to teach people how to grow their own produce.
- Los Angeles-based Eisner Pediatric & Family Medical Center, which offered nutrition classes to families and provided them with coupons for free produce.