In this special Speaker Series, Becker's Healthcare caught up with Nancy Howell Agee, president and CEO of Roanoke, Va.-based Carilion Clinic.
Ms. Agee will speak on a keynote panel at Becker's Hospital Review 7th Annual CEO + CFO Roundtable titled, "The Most Pressing Issues Facing Health Systems," at 9:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 13. Learn more about the event and register to attend in Chicago.
Question: What major challenges, financial or otherwise, are affecting hospitals in the markets you serve? How is your hospital responding?
Nancy Howell Agee: Carilion is a nationally ranked, integrated healthcare delivery system headquartered in Roanoke, Va. We provide access to healthcare for nearly 1 million Virginians and West Virginians. Though our flagship hospital and other facilities are concentrated in an urban environment, our service area is predominantly rural, which presents its own challenges.
Generally speaking, rural communities struggle with access to healthcare, and the perception is if you live in a rural setting, you're more likely to have to travel long distances for care, particularly specialty care.
At the same time, we face the increasing pressure to respond to the needs of our patients as consumers. This combination of challenges has led us to redesign care in a way that's convenient for our patients no matter where they live in our service area. For example, we've expanded urgent care and continue to rollout technology solutions like e-visits, interactive patient education and a mobile-first website. We also proactively engage with patients to collect reviews and ensure that their feedback is part of our decision-making process.
None of this matters, though, if patients cannot afford care in the first place. We will join many other states this year since our legislature voted to expand Medicaid coverage. In January, more than 400,000 low-income residents will have access to health insurance for the first time. There's more we can do in Virginia — and across the country — to ensure quality care is accessible AND affordable.
Q: What's one conviction in healthcare that needs to be challenged?
NA: The question of affordability is top of mind, especially through my work as chair of the American Hospital Association. According to a recent survey, 46 percent of Americans say medical costs are a hardship, 23 percent don't fill prescriptions or cut pills in half because of costs and 1 out of 3 Americans say they put off needed care because of cost.
We must consider our patients' ability to afford their care just as passionately as we do their ability to access care that is safe and high quality. We need to transform, to improve and to redefine how care is delivered and find ways to deliver care that provides value and is affordable.
Hospitals and health systems aren't the only stakeholders when it comes to affordability, and, as such, we can't fix all the issues on our own. But, we can be a catalyst, promoting healthcare affordability, quality and collaborating with consumers and insurers, vendors, employers, elected officials, pharma and certainly patients.
Our commitment to improving the health of the communities that we serve demands our continual focus on making care better and more affordable for our patients. They are the reason we are here and why we do what we do.