Ohio to study streamlined health care
6/10/2010COLUMBUS - Gov. Ted Strickland has signed into law a bill that would use 40 medical practices across Ohio as a laboratory to test whether a streamlined system of health care can raise efficiency and reduce costs.
Sponsored by Rep. Peggy Lehner (R., Kettering) and former Rep. Peter Ujvagi (D., Toledo), the bill introduces a Patient Centered Medical Home Education program to Ohio. The effort has been found to reduce hospitalizations and emergency-room visits in other states.
A new advisory group would provide training in 10 medical practices each from four quadrants of Ohio and at least four advanced-nursing practices. The program will focus on meeting all health-care needs in one place, with doctors concentrating on more serious ailments and nurses treating minor conditions and monitoring chronic conditions.
The bill would address the role of improved technology and provide chances for primary-care medical and nursing students to get Choose Ohio First Scholarships.