Media Releases

Media Resources

Other Health News

Asking Tough Questions Column

Updated Community Checkup Now Online

   By Lori Whittaker, MD

Earlier this month the Puget Sound Health Alliance released its third Community Checkup report.  Here’s what we learned from it:  All of us can do things to help improve our health care system.  No single doctor, clinic, hospital, patient, insurer or employer can fix the problems alone.  Each of us has a critical role to play.

It’s a simple message – and we shouldn’t lose sight of it even as the national debate over health care reform increases in volume. So how can you use the report to help make the best decisions when it comes to your own health care needs?

The Community Checkup compares certain aspects of care provided by 76 medical groups and nearly 240 clinics of four or more clinicians as well as 30 hospitals within King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish and Thurston counties. The report measures types of care that help to promote better health and reduce the risk of complications and more severe illness, especially for people with chronic conditions such as diabetes, heart disease, and depression.

So here are three suggestions for patients:

• Use the Community Checkup report to see what you should talk with your doctor or other health care professionals about;
• Have a discussion with your doctor and be sure to follow the advice; and,
• Every day, make good decisions that keep you as healthy as possible.

It really can be as simple as that.  One of my favorite success stories is of a patient who came to me for a physical and found out something he really already knew.  He was more than 30 pounds overweight.  So we talked about what could be done, using some of the Health Living resources on the Alliance’s website (www.WACommunitycheckup.org) as a guide.

He listened.  And he acted.  Over the past year, with a real commitment to making exercise a part of his daily routine and following a more sensible diet, he has lost 20 pounds, trimmed two inches off his waist-line and lowered his blood pressure and cholesterol levels.  These are real steps towards a healthier life.

While the President and Congress wrestle over an overhaul of our health care system, this man took responsibility for his own health care reform.

Which leads us to another finding of the most recent Community Checkup:  Sometimes doctors recommend medications or treatment that the patient does not end up taking. Take depression.  On average in this region, 30 to 50 percent of patients diagnosed with depression and put on antidepressants go off their medication too soon. Maybe it is because of side effects, the cost of medications or embarrassment about the condition. Good follow up care is crucial for depression, as it is the top driver of health-related costs in the workplace. Getting better results will improve patient health.     

There is more information like this in the Community Checkup.  It is the most comprehensive public report ever produced in this region, based on data compiled from fourteen health plans and self-insured purchasers and reflecting care provided to more than 2 million people in the five counties.

The Puget Sound Health Alliance has made health care performance information available to the public since last year, when it published the first two versions of its Community Checkup report.  The next Community Checkup report is scheduled to come out in spring of 2010.  It will have even more information in it that will allow people to make informed judgments about their health care.

But one thing is unlikely to change, based on what we already know.  Every body in the health care system – from doctors like me to clinics, hospitals, insurers, employers and, yes, you the patient – have a role to play in making things better!

Dr. Lori Whittaker is a practicing family physician who provides consultation to the Puget Sound Health Alliance.

For media inquiries, contact:

Diane Stollenwerk

Director of Communication and Development

(206) 448-2570 ext. 117