A10 POST-BULLETIN / www.postbulletin.com Wednesday, December 17, 2008 POST-BULLETIN / www.postbulletin.com Xxxday, Xxx ##, 2008 ✩ • • • • • • • • The world of health care is changing dramati- cally, and that world was described in detail at a health care summit meeting in Rochester recently. The meeting was sponsored by the Rochester Area Chamber of Com- merce and it was held at the Marriott Hotel. Principal participants were repre- sentatives of the Mayo Clinic and Olm- sted Medical Center. Chris Gade, director of Mayo Clinic’s Health Policy Center, was the main speaker. He outlined a number of major changes that are needed to get the best health care results for everyone. He said four major steps are required to build the health care system of the future. They are: 1. To create value by improving patient outcomes, decreasing medical errors, reducing costs and reducing waste. 2. To coordinate patient care serv- ices wherever and whenever they are delivered through the use of electronic medical records. Patients must par- ticipate actively in these services. 3. To reform the payment system in order to improve health and minimize waste. Payments should be based on improved results, not simply on pro- viding specific treatments. 4. To provide health insurance for everyone. He said the health care system must make better use of scientific knowl- edge. To illustrate that need, he said it now takes 17 years for scientific knowledge developed in the labora- tory to be used in patient care. Another essential change will be to use information technology to maintain every patient’s medical records. The current system of using paper records is not centralized and the records are not accessible to physicians when they are needed. If a patient seeks care away from his or her home, electronic records can be accessed wherever they are located. The Mayo Clinic favors requiring all adults to purchase health insur- ance for themselves and their fami- lies. Government subsidies would help lower-income people to obtain insur- ance coverage. Employers could con- tinue to buy insurance for their employees or give them stipends to cover the cost. In developing its plan, Mayo Clinic has sought the views of 1,000 thought leaders and interviewed 1,400 patients to obtain their opinions on all of these issues. It also interviewed 400 patients in nine U.S. cities to see if there were any regional differences in health care needs. In the second half of the program, Lois Till Tarara, an administrator at Olmsted Medical Center, spoke about the small “convenience clinics” which have been established in the city to provide medical care for minor ail- ments that can be dealt with in a single visit. Olmsted Medical Center and Mayo Clinic both have established two of these clinics and others have been opened in retail centers around the city. Patients can visit these clinics without an appointment. Treatment is provided by physicians’ assistants and nurses, who work under the gen- eral supervision of physicians. The fees for these treatments are relatively low compared to the cost of standard medical care. Till said that the convenience clinics have been very popular and 90 per- cent of the patients have expressed satisfaction with the treatment they have received. She expects the number of small clinics to continue to grow. A third speaker was Karen Erlen- busch, director of the Olmsted County United Way in Rochester. She told the audience that her agency provides health insurance policies for all of the group’s nine full-time employees as a reward for faithful service. Bill Boyne is a retired editor and publisher of the Post-Bulletin. In response to the Dec. 1 column by Phil Araoz in opposition to Gov. Tim Pawlenty’s green jobs initiative proposal, there has never been a more important time to invest in our future. As we face a severe eco- nomic crisis, solutions that will stimulate the economy and create jobs will also bring long-term sustainability to our environment and economy. Leaders such as Con- gressman Tim Walz, who realize that Minnesota is blessed with renewable resources and are pushing for development, deserve our praise and support. Our energy habits are no small part of the economic crisis. America’s dependence on fossil fuels is stalling our economy, threatening our security, and fueling global warming. Burning oil, coal, and gas for homes, businesses and transportation subjects the lifeblood of our economy to wild fluctuations in price and is responsible for 80 percent of U.S. global warming pollu- tion. We spend twice as much each year on gasoline as we did just five years ago — that’s an additional $200 bil- lion per year sucked out of American’s pocketbooks, with much of it sent to high-prof- iting Big Oil companies and unfriendly nations oversees. Big Oil posts record profits and lobbies against common- sense reform such as safer, cleaner, and more efficient cars that America drivers are clamoring for. Should we remain on our present course, the energy challenges facing the United States will only grow in magnitude at a time when our economy is more fragile than any period since the Great Depression. We are at a crossroads, and the decisions our leaders make now will determine how we rebuild our economy. Investing in clean, home- grown energy, such as wind and solar and energy, is key to improving our energy secu- rity, solving global warming, and jump-starting our economy. President-elect Barack Obama won the election on the promise of a clean energy economy and now is pro- posing a stimulus package that invests in “the alterna- tive energy technologies that can free us from our depend- ence on foreign oil and keep our economy competitive in the years ahead.” “Drill baby drill” is not the bold solution Americans have called for. This great country has enough renewable potential to power the country several times over. For example, the space available on America’s rooftops alone could host enough solar panels to pro- vide about 70 percent of our current electricity needs. Concentrating solar power (CSP), also known as solar thermal power, on just 9 per- cent of the land area of Nevada could produce enough electricity to power the entire United States. Contrary to the claims of Araoz’s column, clean energy technologies are proven and already being employed. Sev- eral CPS projects in the southwest have been pro- ducing power for decades. Interest in the technology is booming and there are pro- posals from developers for 60 gigawatts of CPS projects — twice the current electrical generating capacity in the entire state of California. New Jersey is already devel- oping offshore wind farms that will power more than 800,000 homes every year by 2020 and avoid 8 billion pounds of global warming pollution. Investors and businesses recognize the future of clean energy. Oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens is investing in wind power and calls for 20 per- cent of our energy from wind. Innovation leader Google has also pointed to clean energy as the next big thing and has sponsored a proposal to replace all of America’s coal and oil-fired generators with clean energy. The U.S. Conference of Mayors estimates that there are already around 750,000 “green jobs,” building local economies across the country. After building a wind farm in 2003 with turbines built else- where, Suzlon Energy in Pipestone, Minn., opened a wind rotor blade assembly factory in July 2006 that employs up to 275 skilled workers. A new report by the Center for American Progress esti- mates that, with a $100 billion investment in clean energy infrastructure, we could see 2 million jobs created in just two years, 37,429 of those in Minnesota. That’s four times the number of jobs as the same investment in the oil industry would bring. Gov. Pawlenty recognizes the green job creation potential in Minnesota and we’re glad to see him pushing for poli- cies to expand opportunities and put people back to work. We applaud the leadership of Congressman Walz, who has been and is a champion in solving our energy crisis and global warming. We sup- port him in his efforts to ensure clean energy is a cor- nerstone of any effort to recover our economy. It is vital for other leaders to recognize the assets Min- nesota holds in clean energy resources and help bring the jobs and development we need to build a bright future for our state and the country. Samantha Chadwick is an Asso- ciate with Environment Minnesota, an advocacy organization. Commentary BILL BOYNE [email protected] SAMANTHA CHADWICK [email protected] Now is the time to invest in clean energy home home for the holidays Enjoy the season in comfort with Enjoy the season in comfort with these savings on sofas and recliners at Drury’s in Fountain! at Drury’s in Fountain! t Store Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Friday 9 am-8 pm; Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday 9 am-5 pm; Sunday Noon-4 pm. Just 28 miles south of Rochester on Highway 52 ©2008 Drury’s $849 Genesis Reclining Sofa $ $ sale! Genesis Reclining S $ 349 $ 399 sale! sale! 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