This article was written by Scott Miller and printed in the Vail Daily on 7\/9\/18.<\/p>\n\n\n
VAIL — One of the hard realities of mountain life is that it costs more to live here. That applies to gas, groceries and the cost of health care services.<\/p>\n\n\n
In a recent conversation, Vail Health CEO Doris Kirchner and Vail Health Board of Directors Chairman Mike Shannon talked about the cost of care and some of the reasons a CAT scan costs more in Vail than it does in Denver.<\/p>\n\n\n
Kirchner said in an era of cost increases, Vail Health has kept its increases relatively low.<\/p>\n\n\n
Kirchner said price increases at Vail Health have averaged 3 percent or less per year over the past decade.<\/p>\n\n\n
During the same period, the national average increase has been between 7 percent and 9 percent per year.<\/p>\n\n\n
Some of the biggest increases, though, have come in the cost of health insurance.<\/p>\n\n\n
Kirchner said she’s been talking with local legislators, as well as representatives of the Vail Valley Partnership, the regional chamber of commerce, about ways to rein in those costs.<\/p>\n\n\n
Vail Valley Partnership CEO Chris Romer said his group has proposed forming Multiple Employer Welfare Arrangements as a way to try to control insurance costs, particularly for small business owners.<\/p>\n\n\n
Under those arrangements, a group of businesses negotiates costs with a medical provider.<\/p>\n\n\n
The provider and the business group then negotiate with insurance companies.<\/p>\n\n\n
Those arrangements have been used successfully in Wyoming and other states.<\/p>\n\n\n
So far, though, the idea hasn’t gained any traction with the Colorado Insurance Commission.<\/p>\n\n\n
Still, Kirchner said, the idea is worth pursuing.<\/p>\n\n\n
Shannon said another factor in costs is the fact that Vail Health is an independent facility.<\/p>\n\n\n
“We’re paying no dividends to outsiders,” Shannon said.<\/p>\n\n\n
Costs also increase when an independent facility does as much as Vail Health does.<\/p>\n\n\n
Kirchner said that while a CAT scan at a clinic in Denver may cost less, that clinic is probably open about 40 hours per week. Vail Health is a 24-hour facility, Kirchner said.<\/p>\n\n\n
In addition, the hospital has radiologists available 24 hours a day, either in the valley or via computer access. Someone who has X-rays or a CAT scan at the hospital’s emergency room during the overnight hours can have those images evaluated by a specialist, who then communicates with the emergency room doctor.<\/p>\n\n\n
Shannon added that extra costs also come as Vail Health has over the years been working on the valley’s two leading causes of death — cancer and heart attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n
The Shaw Cancer Center is able to keep valley residents close to home, Shannon said. That saves families from the “huge financial burden” of treatment in Denver or Grand Junction.<\/p>\n\n\n
Shannon also noted that lives are being saved thanks to Vail Health’s heart catheterization lab that’s now been open for a few years.<\/p>\n\n\n
“We were sending 50 to 100 people every year” elsewhere for cardiac arrest treatment, Shannon said. Those people were essentially stabilized, then sent by ambulance to Denver-area hospitals.<\/p>\n\n\n
Shannon said hospital officials believe “dozens” of lives per year are saved having that lab in the hospital.<\/p>\n\n\n
The lab was made possible through donations, particularly from the Precourt family.<\/p>\n\n\n
“That costs millions, and that’s not recouped through revenues,” Shannon said.<\/p>\n\n\n
Vail Health is also putting money into mental health in the community. Kirchner said joint efforts — including education for ambulance crews and law enforcement — are often very expensive.<\/p>\n\n\n
That’s part of creating what Kirchner called a “system” to address mental and behavioral health in the valley.<\/p>\n\n\n
In addition, Kirchner said a few of the rooms in the hospital’s new emergency department will have a way to close off both the room and its equipment in order to hold people with mental health issues.<\/p>\n\n\n
The new emergency department — part of the hospital’s $190 million expansion and renovation — will also provide technology giving nurses the ability to watch patients from outside the rooms. The department will also have access to live psychiatric help via “telemedicine” systems.<\/p>\n\n\n
The system will be “far more robust” than the current one, Kirchner said.<\/p>\n\n\n
Romer said he’s been impressed with what he’s seen of Vail Health’s efforts to control costs and remain independent.<\/p>\n\n\n
“Our access to care is unrivaled in any community of 45,000 people,” Romer said. While there are other providers in this market — MindSprings Health, Valley View Hospital in Glenwood Springs, Kaiser Permanente and Centura Health — Vail Health is the predominant force in the market.<\/p>\n\n\n
“Because of that, you’re going to have higher costs,” he said.<\/p>\n\n\n
Vail Daily Business Editor Scott Miller can be reached at smiller@vaildaily.com and 970-748-2930.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This article was written by Scott Miller and printed in the Vail Daily on 7\/9\/18. VAIL — One of the hard realities of mountain life is that it costs more to live here. That applies to gas, groceries and the cost of health care services. In a recent conversation, Vail Health CEO Doris Kirchner and…<\/p>","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":1040,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n