Barack Obama was in Green Bay, Wisconsin today because of the high value hospitals there have exhibited in terms of controlling medical spending while also providing good outcomes.  The trip is a direct response to the president’s recently acquired affection for the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, which does an outstanding job of measuring health care value and clearly shows that there is immense waste in U.S. health care spending.

We wrote about that earlier and noted, as the New York Times did, that Iowa is also a high-value state.  How does Iowa compare to Green Bay?  Well, a few minutes spent working with Dartmouth’s data tables revealed that the president chose well, but he could have done better by coming to Dubuque…or Mason City…or Iowa City…or Cedar Rapids.

When looking at Medicare spending during the last two years of a Medicare recipient’s life, a key measure in the Dartmouth report and in the Post story, the hospitals in those Iowa cities spend less than Green Bay, which came in at $33,334.  And the hospitals in Sioux City and even Des Moines – and the average for all of Iowa – were only about $500 higher. Overall, Iowa ($33,864) is a significantly better value than Wisconsin ($37,217).  (The national average is $46,412, while the average in the president’s hometown of Chicago is $62,565).

Patients in Dubuque and Mason City also spent less time in the hospital than in Green Bay, and patients in Mason City and Iowa City spent less time in intensive care units.  Patients in Mason City, Sioux City and Iowa City also had fewer visits with medical specialists, which helps keep costs lower.

Obviously, there are other factors at work to bring the president to Green Bay (including access to media).  But know this:  When the president talks about doing medicine the right way – the high-value way – he’s also talking about Iowa.

As Congress is working toward releasing draft legislation, President Obama has stepped up the executive branch’s efforts to encourage the efforts by launching a grassroots advocacy campaign, and using health care reform as the topic of his weekly “YouTube” address.

The campaign is called “Organizing for America (OFA)” and began June 6 with events all over the nation featuring a web address from the president.

Saturday’s events were a precursor to a “national health care day of service” scheduled to take place on June 27, 2009.

The Obama Administration takes a new approach to grassroots advocacy

The administration is taking a new approach to executive branch advocacy, and is working to utilize the millions of grassroots supporters energized and mobilized during the 2008 presidential campaign, to engage in a grassroots lobbying campaigns especially among the president’s goals on health care.

Obama also held a conference call with supporters last week from Air Force One where he said, “We need you to stay involved.”

“The election in November–that didn’t bring about change. That just gave us an opportunity for change,” Obama said.

Coming legislation will heat up the battle in Congress

Congress is in the process of releasing health care reform legislation in the coming weeks, which will set up a Congressional battle on issues such as coverage, health care payment reform and cost reduction.

IHA has outlined health care reform principles that show, from the hospital perspective, what Congress should consider while working on reform efforts this year.

What are your opinions on health care reform?

IHA is interested in hearing from citizens on the topic of health reform.

Leave a comment to tell us what you think!

The Obama administration held a summit last week, officially titled the “White House Forum on Health Reform,” involving 150 participants including members of Congress, hospitals, doctors, business groups, insurance companies, consumer organizations and labor unions.

The summit, structured similarly to the economic summit held the week prior, was an opportunity to bring groups together and begin discussing the initial plans to overhaul the nation’s health care system.

The president provided opening and closing remarks to attendees who spent the remainder of the day in five break-out sessions focusing on a variety of topics, including health care cost, quality, coverage and access.

During his remarks, Obama notably indicated some flexibility on the reform plan he introduced during the campaign saying, “I put forward a plan for health care reform.  I thought it was an excellent plan.  But I don’t presume that it was a perfect plan or that it was the best possible plan.”

Obama indicated that there is room for discussion on the specifics, and doesn’t believe that an entirely public nor entirely private reform plan will work and said, “If there is a way of getting this done, where we’re driving down costs and people are getting health insurance at an affordable rate…and we could do that entirely through the market, I’d be happy to do it that way.  If there was a way of doing it that involved more government regulation and involvement, I’m happy to do it that way as well.”

President Obama had said that he would like Congress to act on health care reform by the end of this year.

Details on upcoming health reform regional forums are available on the newly launched HealthReform.gov website, managed by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services.