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TriHealth patient Patti Needham felt “miserable” before her primary care physician connected her with two TriHealth programs as part of their value-based care model.

Under this model, Needham’s providers collaborated to ensure she received high quality care in managing diabetes and weight loss.

In the latest episode of the Getting Health Care Right podcast, Needham discusses her health care journey and the benefits of value-based care with Dr. Raymond Metzger, a TriHealth physician, and Jamie Smith, market president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier.

“Historically, health care systems and providers, like doctors and nurse practitioners, usually get paid on a fee-for-service model, which tends to be very episodic and very fragmented,” Metzger said.

“A provider in a hospital system that's involved in value-based care is going to really focus on screening,” he said.

Listen to this episode of Getting Health Care Right to hear more about:

• The pros of a value-based care model when compared with a traditional health care model (1:46).
• What the patient experiences in a value-based care model (2:21).
• How Needham manages diabetes treatment and weight loss with TriHealth’s programs (3:42).
• What a value-based care system means for doctors (9:00).
• TriHealth’s partnership with Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield of Ohio, and how it’s helping patients receive high-quality care at lower costs (10:37).

Learn more about value-based care at TriHealth.

Never miss an episode of Getting Health Care Right. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Precision medicine involves a highly individualized approach to health care, whether it’s prevention, diagnosis or treatment. The fact that technology has evolved to such a point makes for an exciting time in medicine, according to Courtney Rice, director of precision medicine and genetic counselor with TriHealth, on the latest episode of the Getting Health Care Right podcast.

“The first Human Genome Project took two years to do a sequencing of one individual, and the project was over $2 billion,” Rice says. “Fast-forward to present day. The cost of genetic testing is around a few hundred dollars and we can see results return back within a week.”

In this episode, Rice talks precision medicine with host Jamie Smith, market president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier. Listen for more about:

• The percentage of new medicines approved by the FDA in the past nine years that are considered precision medicine (3:03).
• Times to check with your primary care provider to see if precision medicine or genetic testing is appropriate (6:58).
• What happens during a genetic counseling visit (9:50).
• Types of testing typically covered by insurance (11:24).
• How precision medicine fits with TriHealth’s population health model (14:06).

Rice also discusses the topic of genetic information misuse and laws in place that protect patients. The federal Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) states a person’s genetic information is protected from health insurance companies and employers from misusing the information. (GINA law does not apply to supplemental insurance such as life, long-term care, or disability insurance and does not apply to employers with fewer than 15 employees, U.S. military or federal government employees. The U.S. military and federal government have separate policies in place that may protect these members.)

Personalized care is better care. Learn more about precision medicine and genetic services at TriHealth.

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Many college campuses across the country have partnered with a local health care organization to provide student health services, according to Jean Griffin, dean of students at Xavier University. But Xavier’s partnership with TriHealth is different, she says in this episode of the Getting Health Care Right podcast. It’s more multifaceted —and Terri Hanlon-Bremer, EVP and COO of TriHealth, agrees.

“We started off looking at how we help the athletic students at Xavier with equipment and facility enhancements,” Hanlon-Bremer says. “That got brought into some nutritional alignment so we could use the student athletes as role models to other students on campus. … Then we added the onsite medical services TriHealth provides to both the student and employee population, and that nicely dovetails into behavioral health.”

Listen as Griffin and Hanlon-Bremer highlight the most important aspects of their organizational partnership in this episode, hosted by Jamie Smith, market president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier. Hear more about:

· Academic innovations at Xavier that are influenced by TriHealth’s presence on campus.

· How the partnership seeks to address labor shortages in the health care space.

· Problem solving together throughout the pandemic.

· Why the Xavier-TriHealth partnership is advantageous to Cincinnati-area business leaders.

· Students’ growing focus on well-being and balance in their lives.

TriHealth and Xavier University are working together for wellness. Learn more.

Never miss an episode of Getting Health Care Right. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Improving behavioral health in the Cincinnati community is not a task to be undertaken lightly, according to Jill Miller, president and CEO of Bethesda Inc. and bi3, in the latest episode of the Getting Health Care Right podcast.

“This is not an issue we can solve in a year or three years. This is going to take decades-long commitment and work,” says Miller.

Miller discusses barriers to and access of behavioral health care with Dr. Dallas Auvil, TriHealth’s chief of behavioral health services, and Jamie Smith, president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier. Listen to learn more about:

• Concerns around lack of funding and reimbursement for behavioral health services. (3:45
• Whether Auvil sees improvement from pandemic-related mental health stressors. (5:50)
• Strategies for helping children with behavioral and mental health issues. (6:55)
• TriHealth’s programs to help patients find the services they need. (12:06)

Learn more about TriHealth’s behavioral health services.

Never miss an episode of Getting Health Care Right. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

TriHealth patient Drew Abbott felt his blood pressure rising when he was closing a high-stress business deal. When he put on the blood pressure cuff at home that evening, he knew he had a serious issue: his blood pressure measured over 200.

“My PCP made some changes to my medication, but this did not seem to fix the problem,” Abbott says in the latest episode of Getting Health Care Right podcast. Abbott continued to experience blood pressure fluctuations and undesirable side effects from the medication, including syncope (fainting). “I could tell it was coming, but I couldn’t prevent it, and I just passed out,” Abbott says.

An eventual referral to Dr. Stephen Lewis, a TriHealth interventional cardiologist and specialist in difficult blood pressure issues, helped Abbott finally get his hypertension numbers under control.

“I became concerned about hypertension pretty early in my career, as I witnessed a lot of patients suffering from very difficult-to-control hypertension,” says Lewis. “This resulted in further interest in finding out more root causes.”

Listen to this special Heart Month episode of Getting Health Care right to hear more about:

• Abbott’s biggest challenges when it came to treating his high blood pressure.
• A dramatic incident in the Good Samaritan Hospital dining room.
• Incidence of high blood pressure in U.S. adults — and its potential consequences.
• TriHealth’s new hypertension clinic.
• Dr. Lewis’ advice for people concerned about their heart health.

TriHealth’s Heart and Vascular Institute focuses on personalized care. Learn more.

Never miss an episode of Getting Health Care Right. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Pulmonary embolism kills more patients than HIV, breast cancer and motor vehicle accidents combined, according TriHealth’s Dr. Chris Hayner, a specialist in critical care and pulmonology, in the latest episode of the Getting Health Care Right podcast.

“It’s a fairly prominent problem, and for probably 40 years, we really only had two forms of treatment — either to give patients blood thinners or to occasionally use clot busters,” Hayner says. “But within the last 10 years, there’s been a real development of alternative methods and treatment options.”

Hayner talks with host Jamie Smith, market president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier, and Dr. Douglas Adams, cardiothoracic surgeon with TriHealth, about major advancements in medical treatments and approaches for pulmonary emboli, lung cancer and other conditions.

Listen to the episode to hear more about:

· Results seen by patients who work with TriHealth’s pulmonary embolism response team.

· Using low-dose CT scans to detect early-stage lung cancer.

· What Hayner and Adams see as the benefits of folding AI technology into their health care practice.

· Managing health care AI to maximize patient benefit and minimize misuse.

· Lessons learned from the implementation of electronic medical records in health care practice.

· Integrating AI in TriHealth’s population health model.

A healthy life begins with truly human care. Learn more at TriHealth.com.

Never miss an episode of Getting Health Care Right. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

The uptick in celebrations around the holiday season can also mean an uptick in stressors for many — and a resulting uptick in employee assistance program (EAP) use, according to Diane Pipes, LISW-S, manager of well-being services for TriHealth, on this episode of Getting Health Care Right.

Pipes says it’s a good idea to help employees pre-plan for high-stress incidents. “How can I plan for the holiday function where I don’t want to see a particular family member?” she asks. “How can I plan for those occasions where there’s lots of alcohol and food, and I don’t want to overconsume?”

Listen as Pipes discusses the history and value of EAPs with host Jamie Smith, market president and publisher of the Cincinnati Business Courier, and learn more about:

· Advice for employees who may be hesitant about using an EAP.

· Resources beyond EAPs for employees whose workplace doesn’t offer them.

· ROI estimates for employers considering an EAP as part of benefit offerings.

· Reductions in stigma around mental health services today.

· The role of behavioral health in TriHealth’s population health initiative.

TriHealth Corporate Health has helped companies across the region lower costs and improve their workforce health. Learn more.

Never miss an episode of Getting Health Care Right. Subscribe today on Apple Podcasts or Spotify.

Humans are hardwired to want to belong to groups. Many organizations have widened their inclusivity efforts to prioritize a sense of belonging for employees at every level.

At TriHealth, this work may be using a newer name (“belonging”), but it is tied to the health system’s value system and has been part of its leaders’ commitment to the community since the mid-1990s, according to Mark Clement, president and CEO of TriHealth, in this episode of Getting Health Care Right.

“(Belonging) is the product of fostering a diverse, equitable and inclusive organization,” Clement says. “That product is where our team members, our providers and ultimately the patients we serve, feel a sense of belonging and feel welcome in our organization.”

Dr. Thomas Shockley, who joins Clement and Cincinnati Business Courier Publisher Jamie Smith on the episode, adds to the conversation by sharing more about his role as TriHealth’s chief health equity officer and his goals with the soon-to-launch Health Equity Center.

“One of the things that I and the Health Equity Center will do will be pulling leaders together, pulling team members together, bringing people out of silos to live that mission for all the people we serve,” Shockley says.

Listen to the episode to hear more about:

• Helping patients understand health equity.
• Specific challenges that come with addressing diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the health care space.
• Differences in life expectancy data from one ZIP code to another.
• Ways health equity fits into the population health model.

Learn more about TriHealth’s mission to serve the larger community by mirroring the rich diversity of Greater Cincinnati in its leadership, employed physician population and supplier relationships.