Longmont United provides new prescription for health

Google the No. 1 cause of death in America, and heart disease pops up first, then cancer.  In reality, the No.  1 cause of death in America is not heart disease, cancer or any other disease: It’s the choices we make.   

Fifty percent of our “health” is a result of our behaviors.  Genetics and environment are the second-largest contributors to our physical and mental wellbeing, while the direct medical care we receive plays only a small contributing role. Imagine the positive impact on human health — not to mention health-care costs — if we as Coloradans focused our efforts on the most significant factors that can be changed.

It has taken too long for hospitals and the health-care industry to recognize that we should be working to keep patients well by supporting them in making healthy lifestyle choices, rather than treating them when they are sick. 

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Longmont United Hospital is part of Centura Health, the largest health-care system in Colorado. Centura Health is working very hard to help Northern Coloradans become healthier. We have changed the entire infrastructure of our system to make wellness services and primary care, which helps prevent disease, more accessible, convenient and affordable. 

For example, Centura Health has looked at the health needs of neighborhoods across Colorado and is setting up neighborhood health centers to deliver care based on community need. This means we’re offering wellness, education and preventive care geared toward each community’s distinct characteristics and demographics. Just last month, we opened such a neighborhood health center in Firestone.   

Longmont United Hospital built and subsidizes a community-focused wellness center, with exercise and rehabilitation programs to help everyone from marathon runners to patients recovering from heart surgery.  The hospital also supports healthy, local, organic food for all people — regardless of income — by sponsoring the Boulder County Farmers Market and the Nelson Family Community Garden at the Indian Peaks Medical Center. 

When you do need medical care, we are creating a system that makes it convenient for you to get it.  In June, we introduced a new model of care to the Frederick community: an Emergency and Urgent Care center, which treats everything from minor aches to major injuries, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This center provides unprecedented value to patients, who are evaluated and treated by board-certified emergency physicians and emergency-trained nurses and billed only for the level of service received.   

To accommodate patients’ need for flexibility, we have introduced virtual physician visits that allow patients to have a secure video visit with a doctor for less than $50. In the Longmont area, with partner DispatchHealth, we will soon bring back the house call. This service brings providers to patients in their homes, allowing caregivers to gain a broader view of the individual behaviors and environmental factors that influence health and to meet patients where they are most comfortable. 

In order to move away from a sick-care model to one that promotes wellness, the way the United States pays for health care also must change.  Our current fee-for-service model of health care rewards providers for the volume of services performed  — more tests, more medications, more visits. The future holds a payment model that rewards providers for delivering the care that makes patients healthy at the lowest cost. 

This, in essence, is a complete departure from our historical health-care model.  For our nation, that model will soon consume 20 percent of our gross domestic product.  Clearly, something needs to change.  The good news is that we have the tools to greatly impact these costs by making responsible decisions and focusing on our own health and wellness. 

In contrast to other health systems that are building new hospitals and adding sick-care beds, Centura Health is committed to keeping people healthy by delivering the right care, in the right setting, at the right price. Of course we will always be there for you if you get sick, but we really want to focus on supporting the behaviors and choices that keep you well, for life. 

Peter Powers is vice president of operations for Longmont United Hospital.