New Twist on a Great Idea

F our years ago, we published a supplement to this journal—known then as Disease Management—titled, “Preventive Medicine: A ‘Cure’ for the Healthcare Crisis.” At that time, national statistics on the increasing prevalence of chronic diseases had raised red flags throughout the health care industry. Then, as now, policy makers, health professionals, and public and private payers recognized prevention, early detection, and early intervention as critical elements in the front lines of defense on the disease management continuum. The chief difference in today's outlook is the potential impact of health care reform legislation, which recognizes the importance of prevention and demonstrates a national commitment to improving preventive health care with funding for new initiatives and programs.

In the same supplement, we highlighted a relatively young company—U.S. Preventive Medicine, Inc. (USPM)—as an example of an innovative approach to prevention. Its founder, Christopher Fey, has been described as a man on a mission to bring about a paradigm shift that would bring prevention to the forefront and begin to transform the practice of medicine from reactive to proactive. With input from the health care market and a strong background in building managed care companies, Mr. Fey relates, “A light bulb went off and the idea of turning preventive medicine into a business plan began to take shape. Prevention can be put into a ‘box’ that employers and public providers can add to their benefit plans. My dream is to see such a ‘box’ sent to everyone in the US!”

Our nation is bracing for a crisis of epic proportions as we confront the human and financial burdens of an aging and chronically ill population. We would be wise to bear in mind that in the midst of crisis, there is tremendous opportunity. Recently a friend pointed out to me that the Chinese character for “crisis” captures this dichotomy very effectively. The character's numerator is “danger” and its denominator is “opportunity.”

In the following pages we provide a brief overview of preventive health in the United States, synopses of relevant sections from the new health care reform law, and an update on USPM's model, which served previously as our example of untapped potential for innovation in the delivery of preventive services.

I hope this supplement will serve as a stimulus for thinking outside the box in order to make preventive health services accessible to enrich the lives of all citizens.

As always, I welcome your comments. I can be reached at David.Nash@jefferson.edu.