Washington, D.C., June 17, 2016 – On June 17, The Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality (WCHQ) joined the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform (CHQPR) and 100 senior healthcare leaders from across the country to discuss eight barriers to successful health care payment reform and collectively recommend strategies to address these barriers.
In order for providers to deliver care that is higher value, more patient-centered, and better coordinated, alternative payment methods that reward value, rather than volume, need to be established. “We know how to get to better health and health care,” said Elizabeth Mitchell, president and CEO of the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), “but the existing payment system gets in the way. By bringing together these national leaders and asking them to collectively tackle eight issues, we were able to produce almost 20 recommendations on how we can get closer to successful payment reform.”
This was NRHI’s third National Payment Reform Summit. Participants included national employers, regional employer coalitions, leaders of national and regional health plans, practicing physicians and leaders of physician organizations and hospitals, healthcare consumers, federal and state policymakers, leaders of Regional Health Improvement Collaboratives (RHICs), and healthcare policy experts.
Some of the barriers discussed included:
- How to design payment systems that support prevention, slow disease progression, and encourage healthy lifestyles
- How to protect providers from excessive financial risk as well as patients from under-treatment or loss of access to health care services
- How to design payment systems that help support and address social needs that patients might have
- How to make sure that providers have the data they need to deliver high-value care, and that employers have the information they need to purchase high-value care.
To view the 2016 National Payment Reform Summit recommendations, visit
http://www.nrhi.org/publications/17-recommendations/
The Summit is just one example of how NRHI coordinates efforts by Regional Healthcare Improvement Collaboratives (RHICs) and other stakeholders to address national issues. NRHI released an Anthology at the event where you can learn more about Regional Health Improvement Collaboratives, the expertise each offers, and the work they do to advance transformation of health and health care. You can also find more information on www.nrhi.org.
To learn more about NRHI, please contact communications@nrhi.org.
To learn more about WCHQ, please contact Mary Riordan, director of member and community engagement at mriordan@wchq.org
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About NRHI
The Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement is a national organization representing regional multi-stakeholder groups working to achieve the Triple Aim of better health, better care, and reduced costs through continuous improvement. NRHI and all of its members are non-profit organizations, separate from state government, collaborating directly with physicians, hospitals, health plans, and patients to improve health care through the use of data. www.nrhi.org
About CHQPR
The Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform is a national policy center that facilitates improvements in healthcare payment and delivery systems. Since its founding in 2008, CHQPR has become a nationally-recognized source of unbiased information and assistance on payment and delivery reform. CHQPR’s publications are among the most widely used and highly regarded resources on payment reform and accountable care in the country. CHQPR has provided information and technical assistance to Congress, to federal agencies such as CMS and MedPAC, to national organizations such as the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association, and to physicians, hospitals, employers, health plans, and government agencies in more than 30 states and metropolitan regions to help them design and implement successful payment and delivery system reforms.
About WCHQ
Founded in 2003, the Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality (WCHQ) is a voluntary, non-profit consortium of 39 organizations committed to using the public reporting of comparative measures of performance to catalyze improvements in the quality and affordability of healthcare in our state. To view our reports, or to find out more about WCHQ, please visit our website at www.wchq.org