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30 January 28, 2013 Arkansas Business Arkansas Business Exec Q&A To submit questions or interview suggestions, email GMoritz@ABPG.com Dr. Joe Thompson is responsible for developing health policy, research activities and programs that promote better health and health care in Arkansas. What can Arkansans do to be healthier? First, we all need to recognize our personal responsibility for doing what we can to stay healthy and not needing health care. But inevitably we will need health care, and we need a system that both delivers high-quality care and is aff ordable for all. Currently, one of every four working-age Arkansans does not have health insurance. At the same time, more than 50 percent of Arkansas adults are living with at least one chronic disease like cancer, diabetes or heart disease. As a result, more than 16 percent of Arkansans have reported that they could not see a doctor due to cost. Is Obamacare just a step on the road toward a single-payer system? It does expand government’s role by subsidizing low-income workers to buy private insurance and giving states the opportunity to use federal funds to help support the poor through Medicaid, but its intent is not for a single-payer system. While improving insurance coverage and access to care will save an estimated 2,300 lives per year and have economic benefi ts for our state, the act does fall short on containing the cost of health care throughout the system. Luckily, we started the Payment Improvement Initiative before the ACA, and with businesses and insurance companies we are on the way to creating a more effi cient and aff ordable health care system. We need to take advantage of what is off ered through the federal health Definitely Delta Dental At Delta Dental, dental and vision benefits are not a sideline to our business – they are our specialty. That’s why more than 2,900 Arkansas companies choose us to be their benefits provider. Delta Dental also offers affordable dental and vision insurance for individuals and families. Call or visit our website to learn more about how Delta Dental can take care of all your dental and vision needs. Delta Dental of Arkansas www.DeltaDentalAR.com 1-800-814-3451 This Week: Dr. Joe Thompson Surgeon general for the state of Arkansas care law and at the same time work to minimize the risks it contains. What is your vision for the Payment Improvement Initiative? We are replacing a system in which fi nancial incentives lead to visits and procedures with one that centers on the patients’ needs, eliminates waste and achieves higher quality. For example, one in four seniors hospitalized for congestive heart failure is readmitted within 30 days. When the providers reach out to help provide appropriate follow-up care after discharge, the likelihood of such hospital readmissions can be dramatically reduced. Has gun violence become a public health issue, especially with regards to mental health? I think we need to take a look at the root causes of gun violence and develop evidence-based solutions much in the way we address other preventable threats to public health like tobacco and obesity. We have made progress in that mental health services are now being covered in most health insurance policies, but that is just a start. INSURING HEALTHY SMILES YEARS Bio: Joe Thompson Bio: Besides serving as surgeon general, general, Joe Thompson is also director of the Arkansas Centerter for for Health Improvement, professor of medicine and public health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock and a general pediatrician. Education: Thompson earned his medical degree from UAMS and a master’s degree in public health from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill. How long can the country continue with the current health care model? Our health care system is at a tipping point brought on by an unhealthy population and rising health care costs. Unless we improve the health of our citizens and create more cost effi ciency within the health care system, we are facing a tsunami of medical treat- ment needs that we simply won’t be able to aff ord. The good news is that people recognize the problems. We are fortunate here in Arkansas that policymakers and many others are willing to work together on eff ective solutions. We are working toward a comprehensive rebuilding of our health care system that could well be a model for the nation. n
TALK ABOUT GOOD! That’s the business we’re in at Arkansas Community Foundation. We help Arkansans do good in their communities. And we help professional advisors like you — attorneys, CPAs, trust officers and financial planners — provide good advice about charitable giving. You understand your clients’ charitable goals. We have the tools and resources to make the philanthropic process simple, flexible and efficient. We can help your clients establish endowments that provide a permanent source of funding for the causes they care about without setting up a separate private foundation. THANKS FOR OPENING DOORS! Arkansas Community Foundation thanks professional advisors who have opened the doors to philanthropy for their clients during 2012. C. Brantly Buck Charles T. Coleman Randall Drake Karen Garrett Tina Green Ronald Hope Wayne A. Jones Mike Munnerlyn Andy Peeler Jennifer Pierce J. Merek Rowe Michael Schaufele Tom Womack Good Advice 1400 West Markham, Suite 206 | Little Rock, Arkansas 72201 | 501-372-1116 | arcf@arcf.org
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