HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt discussed his vision for a new healthcare system for New Orleans while visiting the 40-member committee of city, state, and private experts charged with planning new hospitals and clinics to rebuild those that were destroyed by Hurricane Katrina one year ago. Replacing the former medical system of separate facilities for the poor and for the insured will be a prevention-based network of primary care clinics that will provide a medical home for every patient. Electronic health records will ensure that doctors can provide seamless care to any patient, and price and quality information will be readily available, Leavitt told The Times-Picayune of New Orleans. Although Leavitt said he is in a hurry to rebuild New Orleans’ medical care, he also acknowledged that changing the way people view health care will take time. “It’s not the thing you build all at once and then flip the switch on,” he said. “There’ll be some bricks and mortar that’ll have to be put into place--clinics to be built, health records to be safeguarded--and it won’t just be systems. It’ll have to be sociology that’ll have to change.”
Meanwhile, the city’s emergency physicians are discouraged by the progress of rebuilding emergency departments, according to a survey conducted by the American College of Emergency Physicians. More than half (52%) report little to no progress in the recovery of the emergency care system in their communities. The vast majority of emergency physicians (93%) said the shortage of beds is at least 25% below what is needed to care for patients, with 29% saying the shortage is 50% below what is needed. More than one-third (36%) of emergency physicians said that if the post-hurricane recovery is not sufficiently improved in one more year, they would consider leaving to practice in another state. “It’s frustrating for patients and doctors to see so little progress in one year,” said James Moises, MD, of Tulane Medical Center.
