Professors discuss health care reform with China
Issue date: 9/22/09 Section: News
Two professors at The University of Memphis recently took their health care expertise around the globe.
Cyril Chang, professor of economics, and Sandra Richardson, assistant professor of management information systems, visited China in June as part of the China-Tennessee Health Care Exchange Program. The two were part of a group of eight Tennessee health care consultants and health officials invited by the Chinese Ministry of Health to share their thoughts on health care reform.
"The goal of the program is to encourage China and Tennessee to exchange ideas on health care and learn from each other on how we deliver health care," Chang said.
The program, started by Governor Phil Bredesen in 2007, is a collaboration between The U of M, Vanderbilt and East Tennessee State University.
From June 7- 22, over 100 Chinese health officials joined Chang and Richardson's group in the city of Xi'an to attend the program's seminars. Kathy Taylor, the deputy commissioner of health for the United States, also attended.
"They want to know desperately how to insure everybody at a low cost in rural and urban areas," said Chang, who is also director of the Methodist Le Bonheur Center for Healthcare Economics. "They are in a big hurry to bring their health care system up to world standards."
Chang said China's main health care problems are financing health care, setting up payment systems for doctors and patients, caring for vulnerable people and creating and maintaining health insurance plans. More than 200 million Chinese lack any form of health insurance.
Chang, who grew up in Taiwan, said China's challenge of providing care for a massive population with few resources gave him perspective on the U.S. health care system.
"We learned how lucky we are in the U.S. and that we take these state-of-the-art services for granted," he said. "We have higher expectations than we can possibly deliver."
The major difference between China and the United States in health care is those "state-of-the-art services" and the cost to provide them, Chang said.
Cyril Chang, professor of economics, and Sandra Richardson, assistant professor of management information systems, visited China in June as part of the China-Tennessee Health Care Exchange Program. The two were part of a group of eight Tennessee health care consultants and health officials invited by the Chinese Ministry of Health to share their thoughts on health care reform.
"The goal of the program is to encourage China and Tennessee to exchange ideas on health care and learn from each other on how we deliver health care," Chang said.
The program, started by Governor Phil Bredesen in 2007, is a collaboration between The U of M, Vanderbilt and East Tennessee State University.
From June 7- 22, over 100 Chinese health officials joined Chang and Richardson's group in the city of Xi'an to attend the program's seminars. Kathy Taylor, the deputy commissioner of health for the United States, also attended.
"They want to know desperately how to insure everybody at a low cost in rural and urban areas," said Chang, who is also director of the Methodist Le Bonheur Center for Healthcare Economics. "They are in a big hurry to bring their health care system up to world standards."
Chang said China's main health care problems are financing health care, setting up payment systems for doctors and patients, caring for vulnerable people and creating and maintaining health insurance plans. More than 200 million Chinese lack any form of health insurance.
Chang, who grew up in Taiwan, said China's challenge of providing care for a massive population with few resources gave him perspective on the U.S. health care system.
"We learned how lucky we are in the U.S. and that we take these state-of-the-art services for granted," he said. "We have higher expectations than we can possibly deliver."
The major difference between China and the United States in health care is those "state-of-the-art services" and the cost to provide them, Chang said.