Escape Fire: Fight to Rescue American Healthcare

Successful Healthcare Reform Needed at the Grassroots Level
The film starts with a story about the Mann Gulch fire in 1949 in a forest preserve in Montana. As most of the crew ran away from the fire just a few yards behind them one of the few survivors lit a match setting fire to grass in front of him and successfully creating a circle of protection around him later called an "escape fire". Firefighters outside this region perished creating a metaphor for the current state of healthcare in United States. That being that the entire system will likely not be reformed and that smaller focused efforts will likely create immediate corrections in the many deficiencies in delivery of healthcare plaguing the current system.

Although the film was somewhat weak on providing supporting details, it was nevertheless, thought-provoking and insightful. It outlined multiple corporate interests including the insurance industry, the legal lobby, big pharmaceuticals, and device manufacturers who all profit from maintaining status quo. "They don't want...

The Lobbyists Are Winning
The film depicts the true state of affairs in the U.S. A publication from the National Research Council Jan. 2013 "Shorter Lives, Poorer Health" which describes the U.S. when compared to 16 peer countries. The reasons from the film is in large part:
I. Medical Industrial Complex
II. Dr.Donald Berwick recent director of Medicare/Medicaid (CMS) blamed the medical industrial lobbyists.
And the record confirms:

III. In 2005 Sept./Oct. Health Affairs, an academic journal, published 4 articles by experts about the current status of Electronic Health Care(EHR). The lead article said extensive use of EHR by physicians and hospitals would save money and improve health. At the end of the paper: "was sponsored by Cerner, General Electric, Hewlett-Packard, Johnson and Johnson".
The other 3 articles said the available EHR systems and programs were NOT capable of achieving the described goals. They did not report any conflict of interest. The federal government...

A Must See to understand US Health Care: engaging and informative
Beyond the political one liners, here is an engaging film from US experts and journalists on the fact of our US health care system which is not improving health or care. It demonstrates the complex issues of health care. It shows how our US system incentivises volume over health care. It shows what could be done, what has been done elsewhere and in innovative centers throughout the US. It shows how all these models can be used to REFORM the organizational and payment system to provide a system that improves health. Within the Accountable Care Act that is so complex and misunderstood are the incentives for these new models. Rather than incentivize hospitals to put heads in beds, they need to ensure appropriate, timely, safe and patient oriented care when needed as part of a team of health care professionals working to improve health. Once the system of care teams are paid and reorganized to improve health, service to patients is the focus, prevention of what is preventable, rapid...

Click to Editorial Reviews