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2015 | Doing Business in Connecticut 47 Health & BioPharma Mindful Change Health care's major players launch new initiatives to optimize physical and mental health By Theresa Sullivan Barger W hen someone comes to UConn Health Center's John Dempsey Hospital with an asthma attack, staff asks her about her living conditions. If she can't afford an air conditioner, the hospital will buy her one and be sure that it's installed. It's cheaper to provide the preventative care than send the patient home to the same environment, knowing the high probability that she'll return. Mental health and physical health are oen linked, so Hartford HealthCare (HHCS) system has established a pilot project that places be- havior health clinicians in the offices of primary care doctors to provide mental health care. is is designed, in part, to help patients with physical illnesses cope with the accompanying challenges, stress and anxiety. Saint Francis Care has received international recognition for its Mandell Center for Multiple Sclerosis in Hartford, which provides neurologists, physicians, social workers, rehabilitation workers and spiritual care in one place. To fill a need, Saint Francis plans within the next year to replicate the team approach to care for Parkinson's and other movement disorders. ese are just a few of the ways that Connecticut's health care providers are working to improve services and lower expenses. e Affordable Care Act has provided health coverage to people who never had it, allowing earlier detection and saving money by prevent- ing more costly treatment. It's also forcing hospitals to find a more efficient and effective way to provide health care. In the health care industry, providers simultaneously compete and collaborate, says Anne Diamond, CEO of John Dempsey Hospital in Farmington. e state's 29 hospitals are active in the Connecticut Hospital Association, she said, and collectively they've prevented 13,400 "harms" from occurring since 2011, saving $122 million. "Every morning at every hospital in the state, everybody has these 'safety huddles.' It's all meant to improve patient safety." e cost of medical supplies and drugs keeps rising, at the same time that reimbursement rates are shrinking. Hospitals are cutting costs by reducing waste and requiring doctors to think twice before calling for a test or buying the latest million-dollar machine. For example, in response to discussions in the health care indus- try about patients receiving unnecessary tests that expose them to high levels of radiation, Diamond said, the state's hospitals are work- ing together to try to reduce radiation exposure, starting with CT scans. Hospitals conduct reviews and doctors have to explain why a Continued on page 48 > PHOTO/UCONN HEALTH