DALLAS – The old adage “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure” is hitting the front page – or, at least, a full-page spread in a recent issue of The Wall Street Journal, thanks to a company looking to have America embrace that idea.
U.S. Preventive Medicine unveiled its plans in a January 10 edition of the newspaper, rolling out an open letter to the American public. Titled “Prevention is the Solution: The ‘Cure’ for Healthcare in America,” the letter urges Americans to embrace a prevention-based approach to healthcare – in essence, taking steps to live a healthy life and managing health issues before they become full-blown medical problems.
“People tend to be passive about their health until they’ve got a crisis,” says Brian J. Baum, president and chief operating
officer of U.S. Preventive Medicine. “They don’t think pro-actively.”
U.S. Preventive Medicine has been in existence for several years, says Baum, and has been using that time to analyze how best to deliver its product. About 18 months ago the company rolled out its business plan at St. Luke’s Regional Medical Center in Sioux City, Iowa, part of the $1.8 billion Iowa Health System. It’s now looking to enlist other “founding member” hospitals around the country.
The company’s plan, says Baum, is to establish a “U.S. Prevention Network,” a collection of hospitals and healthcare providers around the nation who operate “Centers for Preventive Medicine.” Anyone visiting these centers would be given access to a comprehensive series of diagnostic tests and imaging studies, then offered guidance on how to deal with potential medical issues and live a healthy lifestyle. The network would also offer “The Prevention Plan,” a full-service prevention program that local businesses could make available to their employees.
According to Baum, U.S. Preventive Medicine will contract with hospitals and healthcare agencies to provide a “consistent suite of services” that include a licensed brand and methodology.
Those hospitals and healthcare providers, he says, “want to be an asset in the community that people look to rather than turn to only in a time of crisis.”
“It’s been estimated that only 4 percent of America’s $2.2 trillion dollars in annual healthcare spending is devoted to prevention,” says Christopher T. Fey, U.S. Preventive Medicine’s chairman and CEO. “That’s why the country continues to experience alarming levels of obesity and serious illnesses like heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer. Prevention is the solution to this problem. Our nation must embrace a new paradigm of healthcare – one that focuses far more attention and resources on preventing, rather than just treating, major illnesses.”
“Healthcare lacks an organization around prevention,” says Baum. “We’re here to expand the definition of prevention, and to create a national network focused on prevention. … We create the methodology, working through (the hospitals).”