In an ongoing series of stakeholder health reform discussions, the White House hosted a panel of physicians Thursday to discuss the use of prevention and wellness initiatives for cutting healthcare costs and improving health.
The session was streamed live on Facebook, which featured more than 1,000 comments from viewers. Comments were also recorded in a blog written by Rebecca Adelman of the Department of Health and Human Services.
According to Vivek Murthy, MD, president and co-founder of Doctors for America, "the culture has to change" in medical training to incorporate prevention. During his time in medical school, he said, he spent six weeks on cell biology, but the only training offered for preventative care came in an optional evening course which was sparsely attended.
"We can talk about healthcare reform and prevention until we are blue in the face, but we won't have the primary care workforce we need to truly change the system unless we talk about medical education and changing the incentives that deter many new doctors from entering the primary care field," another physician said.
"The best prevention is providing people with health insurance," said another doctor.
Reversing obesity trends was cited as a critical focus by many of the physicians. Some suggested mandatory physical education and nutritional education in schools.
Arkansas Surgeon General Joe Thompson, MD, an associate professor at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences and an expert in prevention, said he has been collecting body mass index information in his state for six years. He is pushing to have health a part of every policy decision in the state.
"We did everything we could think of," he said, to curb obesity trends, including changing foods served in cafeterias and increasing physical and nutritional education. He said tthose measures have halted the increase of obesity in his state.
Omega C. Logan Silva, MD, suggested that the only way to treat obesity is to prevent obesity. She supports enlisting retired physicians to educate young children about nutrition and health, with the goal of changing national attitudes about food.
The White House began the stakeholder discussion series in March and has held regional forums across the country on a variety of healthcare topics.