Traces from the Health Care System Design Intensive 2008

The fourth intensive in health care systems design took place at the site of the future Gesundheit! hospital this August. For five days amid the breathtaking mountains of West Virginia, a mix of doctors, nurses, medical students, residents, therapists, organizers and community dreamers brought their stories, criticism, questions, weariness, enthusiasm, compassion, indignation and desires for change in health care delivery.

The instructors and guest presenters offered design tools and inspiring examples of humane practice—from Doc Hollywood's demystification for children, to PK Beville's Second Wind wish fulfillment for elders, to Rebecca Trotzky-Sirr's work with barrio clinics in Venezuela—plus reports and problem workshops from the participants themselves. Design groups gathered and elicited specific desires from each and fostered deep discussions, connections and friendships to be continued.  Ideas were sparked and problems clarified, with frequent doses of hugs and lots and lots of laughter.

Names and Websites:

• Gorden Moore MD, Rochester New York. Take a look at reviews of his practice in journal of Family Practice Management.
• Pam Wible MD, Eugene Oregon. Also reviewed in the Journal of Family Practice Management.
• Ideal Medical Practice, and Ideal Medical Home--these are initiatives triggered by the Institute for HealthCare Improvement and American Academy of Family Physicians.
• Greenfiled Care Clinic, Portland Oregon

Website Resources:

• Institute for HealthCare Improvement: www.ihi.org/ihi By joining, you receive free updates and invitations to free tutorials.
• American Academy of Family Physicians: www.aafp.org (also, read the article about them: "Future of Family medicine: Multimillion-dollar makeover, a pilot program to transform the face of primary care"
  
• Future of Family Medicine Project---this is the project described above:  www.futurefamilymed.org
• A compendium of health policy blogs. This compendium carries view points from all over the political/medical spectrum: www.healthwonkreview.com/mt
• American College of Physicians--article on "The Advanced Medical Home" www.hhs.gov/healthit/ahic/materials/meeting03/cc/ACP_Initiative.pdf
• Heritage Institute for Health Care Improvement. The Heritage Foundationis the voice of the status quo that guides the money-ed people: www.heritage.org/research/healthcare/healthcarereform
• Perpetual Health, a community supported practice that is attempting to providefor both poor people and those who can afford health care: www.perpetualhealth.org
• Jeremy Brecher, "Doctor Wall Street: How the U.S. Health-care system got so sick": http://www.zmag.org/zmag/viewArticle/17814
• Jonathan Oberlander, Ph.D, "Presidential Politics and the Resurgence of Health Care Reform": http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/357/21/2101

Websites of our Presenters

• PK Beville, SecondWind Dreams and Virtual Dementia Tour: www.secondwind.org
• Neil Shulman MD: www.neilshulman.com
• Rebecca Trotzky-Sirr, "Misión Barrio Adentro: Experiencing Health Care as a Human Right in Venezuela" www.venezuelanalysis.com/analysis/2406
• Patch Adams MD: Vision for a Free Silly Hospital, http://www.patchadams.org
• Susan Parenti, Think Universally, Design Locally, and Re-Designing the Character of the 'Care-Actor'

PATCH ADAMS' HOME ADDRESS (he answers all letters, in longhand):
Patch Adams, P.O. Box 50125, Arlington Virginia, 22205.