Plainview Chamber Told of Health Care Changes

New federal health care legislation will pose serious challenges for the health care industry and its professionals, the executive director of Plainview Hospital told members of the Plainview-Old Bethpage Chamber of Commerce last Week.

At the chamber's breakfast meeting Wednesday, Michael Fenner said hospitals and health-care professionals will be deeply affected by the new law even as it mutates through new Congresses and, perhaps, several presidents.

"The next few years will be a transitional period, a battle for market share," Fenner said. "It will be marked by a deteriorating payer mix and slow growth."

Fenner said there are many millions of people without health care, and attempting to provide coverage for them is a "noble cause." In order to meet the changing face of the health care system, "we have to reform how (health care) is paid for and how it is delivered," he said.

In Fenner's view, health care needs to move from episodic care of the sick toward wellness programs, from treatment to prevention. Efficiencies need to be realized without endangering the quality of care provided. The industry needs to move away from paper-based records toward digital data.

"Technology will bring major change to health care," Fenner said.  "Information technology is going to be key in keeping the patient informed about what is going on in his treatment."

The industry will also have to embrace a new generation of workers and patients as baby boomers grow older and younger people became health professionals.

And, he said, the industry will have to accept the idea that change is inevitable. Financially weak hospitals will be absorbed by stronger facilities and many doctors will move away from private practice and work for health-care alliances and other institutions.

Plainview Hospital, a member of North Shore LIJ Health System, is an acute-care hospital with 239 beds. Its doctors and health professionals treat a wide variety of illnesses.

About 35 business leaders attended the chamber event, held at Plainview's Residence Inn by Marriot on Gerhard Road.

Chamber President Gary Epstein said the Plainview Old-Bethpage Chamber now has 119 members and is hoping to expand to 150 members by June.