PBS documentary focusing on health care successes in Everett

A documentary film crew has been in Everett this week, one stop for an upcoming Public Broadcasting Service production of what might be called America's best-kept health care secrets.

The crew, led by author and longtime Washington Post reporter T.R. Reid, are examining how some communities across the United States have found ways to provide high-quality health care while reining in costs.

Their itinerary will also include Group Health in Seattle, Grand Junction in Mesa County, Colo. and Allentown, Pa., which are well-known for their work in health care circles, Reid said. But people who live in these communities generally are unaware of the innovations happening in their own towns, he said.

Mesa County, for example, has found a way to provide health care for all its residents by rigorously controlling costs, he said. "Our film is about different American approaches to increase (health care) coverage and control costs," Reid said.

The work of communities such as Everett to balance quality and cost has come to the attention of national health care groups, Reid said. These include the Harvard-based Institute for Healthcare Improvement and The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice in New Hampshire, which has tracked health care trends for the past two decades.

"Both Dartmouth and the IHI told us to come to Everett," he said.

One of the measures used to evaluate quality was developed at Dartmouth, comparing annual costs to treat each Medicare patient. Per-patient Medicare costs vary widely in communities across the United States, from $6,771 in Everett to $17,274 in the Miami area.

The film crew was drawn to Everett to examine why, when Medicare costs are so much lower, patients do as good or better as areas where treatment is far more expensive.

They interviewed staff at The Everett Clinic, one of 10 medical clinics nationally selected for a project to find ways to provide seniors with better and cost-effective care.

The project, launched in April 2005, involved about 9,313 Medicare patients and wrapped up last year.

Some of the cost-saving steps included preventing unnecessary hospitalizations and readmissions; preventing complications from illnesses, such as diabetes, that can cause serious health problems, and preventing the "revolving door" of patients who are nearing the end of life and are being treated in the hospital when they need monitoring but not necessarily hospital care.

The crew also looked at a similar program to improve care but cut costs of Boeing employees with complicated health issues, said April Zepeda, a spokeswoman for The Everett Clinic.

A nurse was assigned to each patient with the goal of better coordinating care, solve problems and stay in contact with each patient, she said.

The crew also spent two days at Providence Regional Medical Center Everett, filming heart bypass surgery and documenting the hospital's "single stay" unit for cardiac patients.

The $4.5 million cardiac care unit, which opened in 2003, allows patients to stay in the same room, rather than being shuffled from critical care to recovery units following surgery.

They also talked with hospital staff about an innovative blood conservation program. Its goal is to avoid unnecessary transfusions.

Only 3.9 percent of coronary bypass patients now need transfusions, down from 38.5 percent of these patients in 2003, according to Trudi Gallagher, who oversees the program.

Avoiding unnecessary transfusions has been found to shorten hospital stays for open-heart patients and save money, because less time is spent in the hospital and on equipment such as ventilators.

The one-hour PBS documentary is expected to be broadcast either late this year or early next year.

"We're on the national stage right now," said Dave Brooks, Providence's chief executive.

Brooks said the attention is about more than getting national recognition. It helps improve patient care by encouraging the staff to provide good care, he said.

"It shows people it's worth the hard work," Brooks said. "Others want to learn about what we're doing."



Sharon Salyer: 425-339-3486 or salyer@heraldnet.com.