Planning to transform health care in Arkansas

Northwest Arkansas has experienced significant growth in recent years, with Walmart, Tyson Foods, and JB Hunt all based in the region.

Walter Harris, president and CEO of the Heartland Whole Health Institute, is optimistic about efforts to expand healthcare opportunities in northwest Arkansas.

But the area also faces pressing challenges with access to healthcare providers and the costs of care. The Heartland Whole Health Institute, founded by Alice Walton, is looking to transform care in the region.

The institute has teamed with the Northwest Arkansas Council to develop a roadmap to improve health care in the region by 2030. The institute is also part of a $700 million, 30-year partnership with the Alice Walton Foundation, the Mercy hospital system, and the Cleveland Clinic to improve healthcare in northwest Arkansas.

Walter Harris, president and CEO of the Heartland Whole Health Institute, says he’s heartened by the broad recognition of the problems and the need to take bold steps.

“I'm really excited to see a region come together on such an important topic. And it's not just lip service,” Harris says. “People in this region are very much dedicated to raising quality, increasing access and really making health care affordable.”

In a recent interview with Chief Healthcare Executive®, Harris talks about the pressing issues, the push for value-based care, and the steps that can help patients get better care more easily.

Harris says he hopes success in northwest Arkansas can lead to changes elsewhere.

“The future of healthcare in northwest Arkansas is the first place we start,” he says. “And then we tout that to the rest of the country and say we've proven these things to work in Northwest Arkansas … let's figure out how we can make the rest of the country come along.”

Push for value-based care

For Harris, there’s a sense of urgency in improving the region’s healthcare services. The northwest Arkansas population is expected to reach nearly 1 million people by 2030.

“The infrastructure has to be there. The healthcare system has to be there,” he says.

For providers, the reimbursement rates in Arkansas lag the rest of the nation, and that’s driving up costs, Harris says. “Most folks don't understand that the reimbursement rates for Arkansas are the lowest in the country,” he says.

The partnership with Mercy and the Cleveland Clinic is aimed to help more people get access to services. The Alice Walton Foundation has pledged $350 million in the initiative, with Mercy also investing $350 million. Cleveland Clinic is providing more specialty care, specifically cardiovascular services. A new cardiac care center will be built on Mercy’s campus in Rogers, Arkansas.

Harris says too many in northwest Arkansas have to leave the region for cardiovascular care.

“We're trying to come together with Mercy and Cleveland to create a value-based approach to cardiovascular services and demonstrate that if we bundle some cardiovascular services together, we can show reduction in cost, but yet increase access and even increase the quality of care,” he says.

The institute is pushing for the move to value-based care, which emphasizes keeping people healthy, over the traditional model of reimbursing providers for each service. Harris says that will be key to transforming health care in the region, and he knows it won’t be easy.

“It’s going to be the most challenging part of our strategy,” Harris says.

“We believe that there is an opportunity for us to really challenge the standard healthcare financial system to change that, but we'll have to have self-insured employers, payers, government officials all come together to really make this a reality. The current structure is bankrupting not only Arkansas, but the country.”

Harris acknowledges value-based care isn’t a new idea, but he says it’s time to move forward. He says helping reduce high blood pressure and obesity rates are keys to reducing healthcare costs in the long run.

“We all can agree that the current model is not working,” Harris says, adding, “It's not for the faint of heart, but it's something we definitely need to take on.”

Harris points out the need for more neurology and cancer services as well.

To expand access, Harris points to the use of a “virtual care hub” to offer telehealth services to patients that aren’t close to a physician’s office or clinic.

The institute is also aiming to improve maternal health in the region. Arkansas sits near the bottom of all states when it comes to maternal mortality, according to federal data for the years 2018-2022.

Again, part of the issue is the access to care and the lack of clinicians.

“We have some counties with no doctors in them, and we have some counties that you have to travel 50 or 60 miles to get to the closest hospital,” Harris says.

Harris hopes expanding virtual care options can help close disparities in underserved communities. He also says the institute and its partners recognize they need to engage in community outreach to get more people connected with services and preventive measures.

Expanding the physicians workforce

The institute is working to bring more physicians to the region, selling the high quality of life, including a vast network of bike trails and many other opportunities for outdoor recreation.

Harris points to the need to train and develop more doctors who will stay in the region. The new Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville is designed to meet that need.

The school will welcome its first class of 48 students this summer. The hope is that the medical school will develop a fresh crop of physicians who are going to practice in northwest Arkansas.

With the development of the medical school and the investments to expand healthcare services for the region, Harris says he’s optimistic about the growth of the physician workforce in the coming years.

“I think northwest Arkansas is going to be a health destination of choice within the next five to 10 years,” he says.

But he also says it’s going to take time to make progress, and the institute and its partners are looking to make lasting change.

“This is not a sprint,” Harris says. “This is a long-term marathon that's going to happen over the years.”