The magazine for alumni and friends of the UB School of Management
Issue link: http://ubschoolofmanagement.uberflip.com/i/711984
Every day, Stephanie Yamout, MD/MBA '09, sees newborns in the neonatal intensive-care unit and moderately to critically ill children who are admitted to the hospital or arrive in the emergency depart- ment. As a pediatric hospital medi- cine specialist at Kaiser Permanente's Oakland and San Leandro medical centers, Yamout relies on accurate information to issue a diagnosis and treat her patients. "At Kaiser, the three main en- tities — the hospital, health plan and physician group — are all tied together, and there's a free flow of information," says Yamout. "When a patient comes to the hospital, we know what's been going on. I can see if they've been emailing with their primary doctor or visited a clinic, and read the notes. I'm not starting from scratch." That's not the case at every health center. During her residency, the hospital system lacked coordination and a robust medical records system, so she relied on parents for their child's medical history. "Parents don't just have this information at their fingertips, especially if they're stressed because their kid is sick. How are they going to remember how many milligrams of medication their child had?" Yamout says. "I spent a lot of time making phone calls and doing clerical work, trying to get that infor- mation so we didn't make medical errors." Yamout's experiences are indicative of some of the major problems facing the American health care system: high costs and inefficient practices that can impact patient outcomes. The United States spends more per capita on health care than any other developed nation, accord- ing to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), which compares data related to economic and social well-being worldwide. In fact, on health care-related costs in 2013, the U.S. spent $8,713 per person — 2.5 times the interna- tional average — and more than 18 percent of the country's overall gross domestic product. The high costs, however, are not justified by equally impressive outcomes. According to the A health care system in crisis " At Kaiser, there's a free flow of information. When a patient comes to the hospital, we know what's been going on." — Stephanie Yamout, MD/MBA '09 Pediatric Hospital Medicine Specialist Kaiser Permanente 10 Buffalo Business Autumn 2016 Treating an Epidemic B y M A t t h E w B I d d L E