Journal-News sat down with Lofgren for an interview on December 9 while he visited West Chester. Excerpts from the interview are below.
Q: When Mr. Kingsbury announced his retirement….he talked about rebuilding UC Health from the former Health Alliance of Greater Cincinnati and focusing on UC Health internally, and his successor would be looking more to growing outside connections. Do you agree with that?
Lofgren: "One of the things that I think is very striking walking into the organization is in fact the kind of progress that was made in the last couple years."
“I’ve been to a lot of academic medical centers in the last three years. One of the things that’s usually pretty ubiquitous is that they’re cloaked in anxiety, sort of doom and gloom.”
“You come into this campus and what struck me during the interviewing process was the level of energy and enthusiasm and that’s because I think in the post-Alliance, the organization really looked at how it could organize itself to really make an impact in the community so that the building blocks that Jim laid, the foundation is really quite extraordinary.”
“As the only academic medical center in the region, I think that it’s important that UC Health take a leadership role in helping to transform, really revolutionize health care so that it is sustainable, affordable.”
“In that context, I think the unique role for UC Health is actually the provision of advanced specialty services; that we really are able to provide cutting-edge care throughout the region.”
“The commitment really to the community is that regardless of how sick or complex the problem, that they can be certain they’re going to get world class care right here in Cincinnati.”
“… The element that will be unique that really distinguishes UC Health is the ability to provide the most advanced, the most technologically advanced care. Advanced care really requires much more than technology. It really requires a team of experts.”
“The toys are nice, but that’s really not the issue. The thing that’s unique is the expertise. That’s actually where the academic backbone plays into the strength of the organization. That’s where our tri-part mission of education and research and innovation really provides us with that unique opportunity to be that kind of provider.”
“… I think the other element though that really is unique is extending that advanced specialty care from downtown to the region so it makes it easier to access and reach a broader population, which I think is our obligation and frankly what we need to be doing at UC Health.”
Q: What does that extension of UC Health in the region mean for area residents and why is it important to the system’s strategic plan?
Lofgren: "When we provide advanced specialty services, we really are talking about services that really are designed to take care of millions of people. It's not just the neighborhood of southern Butler County. It's really the idea of the entire region and we need to figure out ways in which we can do that effectively."
“I think it’s going to be multi-faceted.”
“As we extend out even further into (the suburbs), it’s going to be a lot of partnerships, alliances with local community hospitals.”
“I think that one of the key successes as it relates to those, is actually helping link in… greater capability to those local hospitals.”
“I firmly believe that all care that could remain local should remain local, and so that we really make the commitment to all the surrounding areas that will really help them become more effective in keeping care local, but when they need the advanced specialty services, we’re going to make sure it’s easy and kind of grease the path for them.”
“In the metro region, it’s more complex. I think it’s going to be a combination of partnerships and different strategies to be able to improve access to the advanced specialty care.”
“I think that primary care will be important to the local facilities like West Chester, but the unique element again is going to be pushing out the expertise so it’s accessible to the various communities.”
Q: We’re seeing new delivery channels, we’re seeing UC Health in more places, but what other changes might we be seeing from UC Health in the next year?
Lofgren: "From my perspective the greatest crisis facing the health of the country isn't a lack of technology, but a health care delivery system that's kind of clumsy and actually tends to fail many citizens."
“We really have an obligation to build a legacy of a health system that’s sustainable and that means high quality, accessible care that’s affordable and the providers are reliable.”
“What does that mean internally? I think that means the other changes you’re going to see is a laser focus on quality and efficiency, and eliminating unnecessary variation of waste in the way we treat the delivery of this high-end care so that we actually can affect more of the community.”
Q: Does that mean there are things UC Health is not going to do anymore?
Lofgren: "I don't know if it's programmatically, as much as there are areas where the advanced specialty services are really key. Those include cancer, neurosciences, cardiovascular disease, metabolic disorders; top of the list, trauma, transplants."
“In those areas that are really key, it’s important that we figure out ways in which we deliver those kinds of services more effective or efficiently so they in fact can be affordable and accessible.”
“Then I think we need to understand the dynamics of the community about where we can really make that available and that gets into partnerships and relationships and affiliations.”
Q: How is UC Health preparing for next year and are we seeing any changes specifically related to health care reform?
Lofgren: "To me the issue isn't so much what's happening in Washington. It's what's happening in Cincinnati."
“The issue about access is about the fact that health care’s become unaffordable.”
“That gets into this focus about getting rid of the wastes within the system and the redundancies. That’s where initiatives like major undertaking of IT is really designed to figure out ways where we don’t have to have repeated testing or lack of knowledge about care and how we can share that information.”
“It’s really sort of doing the heavy lifting and actually figuring out how we’re going to get rid of the waste in the system.”
“I’m expecting reimbursements not to plummet… One of the things that the health care industry has never really done is grow at the rate of inflation. We’ve always grown at inflation plus.”
“I think that the real challenge with us, which doesn’t sound draconian, but it’s unprecedented within my career, is actually living in inflation, within the balance of GDP plus zero. With the increasing aging of the population, it’s going to be a push.”
“… I think the revenue growth is going to stop and it’s going to drive efficiencies.”
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