Guess what topic was the central focus for the healthcare industry? If you guessed “Affordable Healthcare Act” you would be correct. See what our experts believe will be the impact of this legislation on you.

Kevin Roberts

President and CEO

Glendale Adventist Medical Center

Healthcare reform is here and off to a surprisingly rocky start! What this means for our communities is that it is going to be a bit confusing for the average citizen and create new challenges for those of us delivering the care. It will be confusing since the law gets enacted over time and once we get used to one change, another will arrive requiring understanding and implementation as well.  For healthcare providers, payments will be lower, requiring us to creatively contain costs.           

However, this time of transformation will drive innovation and new partnerships in the industry. Ultimately, we will be better off by talking with each other and building coordinated networks of care rather than the silos of today. Our duty to manage “population health” actually excites me a great deal! We will find new ways to promote health and vitality and keep you out of the “healthcare system.”  We’ll also learn how to better coordinate the care of the sickest-of-the-sick which consume disproportionate fractions of healthcare resources. 

At Glendale Adventist Medical Center, we have prepared for these changes.  First, we’ve focused on what you care most about: clinical quality and service!  Our recent recognition by The Joint Commission (our accrediting body) as a “Top Performing Hospital” is a testament to this focus. Additionally, our patient experience has improved in both the emergency department and for inpatients.   Next, we’ve partnered with our physicians in various ways to support community needs. When I speak with our staff, doctors and leaders, my message is simple.  Our best preparation for healthcare reform is to deliver world-class quality and service affordably. If we do that consistently, the rest will take care of itself. That has been our commitment for 108 years, and will be for the next century!

For more information, visit www.glendaleadventist.com

Stephen A. Ralph

President and CEO

Huntington Memorial Hospital

Not a day goes by when you can’t open the paper, turn on the television or log on to the Internet without reading about healthcare. The Affordable Care Act, Covered California and health insurance exchanges have all become part of our daily lexicon. But while these and other issues make good fodder for the media and political pundits, it is business owners and citizens who are living with the complexity and confusion.

When purchasing health benefits for employees, small businesses now have three options from which to choose: the government marketplace, a single carrier, or a private exchange. As marketplace forces and competition takes hold, employers may find rates and benefits for all three options to be increasingly similar. As a result, they may end up making their decisions – as will individual consumers – based on costs, added benefits and the quality of provider networks.

At Huntington Hospital, our focus remains as it has been for 120 years – to provide high-quality and cost-effective patient care. In support of this, in 2014 we plan on opening our expanded and enhanced emergency and trauma center, the largest and most comprehensive in the San Gabriel Valley. In addition, we will create new partnerships with physicians and other providers to insure we meet our commitments. We will invest significant resources to broaden our focus beyond the walls of the hospital so we can continue to make healthcare accessible and affordable for those who live and work in our community.

Our challenges will be significant for hospitals and physicians as we navigate through this change. Given all that is going on and with the support of our community, employees, medical staff and generous donors, we will meet these challenges head on, insuring we are effectively serving our region of Los Angeles!  

For more information, visit www.huntingtonhospital.com