Defining Health and Discovering Progress


Program Description:

The United States of America spends 16% of its gross domestic product (GDP) on healthcare, equaling more than $7,000 per person annually. Despite this, the United States consistently has lower health outcomes (such as infant survival and life expectancy) than other Western countries. The disconnect between the amount spent and performance could be a function of how the system is designed. Many systems make up the “healthcare system,” and these component parts are not integrated. Instead, the multiple parts work separately, with different foci and different incentives. Personal choices and the community environment also effect healthcare, and often in ways that are not intuitive. Helms proposes to explain how these different parts of the healthcare system function, how they should be integrated with one another, and what tools (such as medical homes, electronic medical records, and e-prescribing) can facilitate that integration for a more functional system. Through these discussions, Helms hopes to stimulate dialogue that improves the understanding of the system and initiates discussions about healthcare reform.


Ned Helms

Ned Helms, MA, currently serves as Director of the New Hampshire Institute for Health Policy and Practice at the University of New Hampshire, a position he has held since 2001 when he became its founding director. Mr. Helms provides intellectual and administrative leadership for the Institute by overseeing the continued growth and direction of the Institute, investigating and pursuing the development of research and demonstration projects, and facilitating collaborative linkages with health and health policy organizations throughout New Hampshire and New England. As a part of his role at the Institute he also serves as the staff and project director of the Citizens Health Initiative, a position he has held since The Initiative began in September of 2005.

Other topics offered by Ned Helms