Physicians agree: the quest for improved public health is a major priority, but how can we move beyond consensus to an actionable plan that improves team-based care? A new documentary film written and directed by David Grubin—10-time Emmy Award winner, two Alfred I. Dupont award winner, three George Foster Peabody prize winner, and five Writer's Guild prize winner—premiers this week that offers potential solutions and helps remind physicians of why they entered medicine—to connect with patients.
Rx: The Quiet Revolution explores the triumphs and challenges of physicians as they attempt to transform health care, one patient at a time. Created by David Grubin—the son of a general practitioner—the AMA-sponsored film showcases physicians and care teams from four health centers across the nation that are changing how people receive medical care by lowering costs and making patients the central focus of their practice. Watch the trailer at right.
The AMA’s involvement in the documentary aligns with its mission to improve the health of the nation by making it easier for physicians to practice medicine and improve health outcomes for their patients. Partnering with patients is a key facet of the AMA’s Improving Health Outcomes initiative, which is taking new approaches in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, as well as prediabetes, a reversible condition and precursor to type 2 diabetes. The AMA’s recent launch with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of a Prevent Diabetes STAT toolkit is an example of this work. The toolkit makes it easier for physicians to integrate screening, testing and referring for prediabetes into their practice workflows.
In its Professional Satisfaction and Practice Sustainability initiative, the AMA partners with physicians, leaders and policymakers to reduce the complexity and costs of practicing medicine so physicians can continue to put patients first. For example, the AMA is tackling the regulatory tsunami that many physicians feel is crippling their ability to provide high-quality patient care.
Similarly, Grubin said he strived to create a film that avoids bureaucratic discussions of health care and instead focuses on the quality care that motivates physicians to continue practicing medicine. In making the film, Grubin said he was exposed to talented physicians across the country who are already revolutionizing health care by partnering with their teams and patients.
“What I really wanted to do was take politics out of the equation,” he said. “Not that policy and politics don’t matter, but the more important thing is to establish a philosophy for doctors and patients that actually helps them. Focusing on the humanistic side of medicine can benefit the patient and doctor.”
While Grubin said he acknowledges the challenges of incorporating patient-centered care into practices, he still hopes that physicians will ask themselves fundamental questions while watching the film.
“I’m hoping the film will make them ask: Is there anything that I learned that I can incorporate in my own practice? Is there a way I can better practice team-based care? What is my community like? What is the history of my patients? How does culture affect them?” Grubin asked.
The film’s premiere, and Grubin’s vision for more collaborative, team-based care, is especially timely with National Public Health Week, April 6-12. This offers an opportunity to remind patients that they also are accountable in transforming their own health. For the non-physician viewer, “I want people to feel like, ‘I am in partnership with my doctor and I have to hold up my end of the bargain just as my physician does,’” he said.
“For me this is the missing dimension of the health care piece that you never see,” Grubin said. “People are always talking about the broken health care system, questions of policy, who pays whom —but those aren’t the fundamentals of why doctors practice medicine. Doctors want to connect with patients. They want to have a relationship, so we need to be thinking in those terms.”
Don’t miss the premiere of Rx: The Quiet Revolution on PBS beginning April 2. Check to see when it airs near you.
