I was struck and moved by a comment that Ken Langone, NYU Chairman of the Board of Trustees, said on the 60 Minutes show last evening with Lesley Stahl. The show was about how NYU Medical School announced it would be tuition-free. Eleven years ago this idea was created in the minds of Ken Langone and Bob Grossman, Dean of NYU Medical School, at that time. Mr. Langone donated 100 million dollars and helped raise the additional 350 million dollars needed to initiate this program.
The comment of the night for me was when Mr. Langone told Ms. Stahl what he felt could happen in the future as a result of this program. Speaking of physicians from this program he said,“They owe us nothing but if one day you’re dealing with a patient that can't afford to have something done you might say it’s on me. Pass it on...”
The hope is also that without the financial burden of loans, that more students may turn to less financially rewarding specialties such as family practice and pediatrics. Also, there may be more physicians that will head to the rural and inner city locations for much needed improved care in those areas.
As a patient advocate and health coach, I see everyday the struggles people have with the healthcare system. I see more hopeful possibilities in 2020 with more pressure being put on providers and healthcare stakeholders to address the affordability of healthcare. Moving forward with more price transparency, cost containments and addressing the surprise billing issue provides me hope.
Lastly, reading about large healthcare systems that are addressing the social determinants of health is a great goal. Social determinants of health are conditions in the environments in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks. This will allow for more health and healing outside of the healthcare system and an improved way to address whole person-wellness in the community.
We, at Healthlink Advocates, look forward to advocating and coaching our clients in 2020 in a system that may be becoming more “patient friendly”. We look forward to watching the much needed changes in the healthcare system start to unfold in 2020. We are a nation rich in resources and intelligence and we are hopeful these gifts are just “what the doctor ordered” to move us in the right direction.