sharon sanders
Editor-in-Chief & President
Headline: HHS SECRETARY LEAVITT UNVEILS PLAN FOR "VALUE EXCHANGES"
TO REPORT ON HEALTH CARE QUALITY AND COST AT LOCAL LEVEL
Plan Combines Nationally-Recognized Standards with Local Control
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today unveiled a plan for chartering local
collaborative organizations that are working to improve quality and
value in health care by assessing the performance of local health care
providers and reporting these findings publicly. The plan would bring
the local collaboratives into a nation-wide system, and the
collaboratives would use nationally-recognized standards to measure and
improve quality of care in their local areas.
"This plan is about giving consumers good information to make decisions
about their health care, and giving providers information to help them
improve care," Secretary Leavitt said. "It's also about hard work
and
trust. At the local level, providers and purchasers can meet eye-to-eye
and achieve the trust that must underlie a system of improvement based
on more open information."
Under the plan, HHS would select qualified regional collaboratives to be
chartered as Value Exchanges. In such collaboratives, local area
physicians, nurses, hospitals and other health care providers are
working collaboratively with health plans, employers, unions and other
health care purchasers to achieve reliable public reporting on quality
and cost of care. As HHS-chartered Value Exchanges, they would continue
to focus on quality improvement and would provide public reports on the
performance of providers in their area.
The plan for Value Exchanges is part of the Value-Driven Health Care
Initiative, a public-private effort launched by Secretary Leavitt last
year to improve quality and lower costs in health care delivery. The
first element of this initiative, which is still on-going, aims at
national coordination by calling on all health care stakeholders to
commit to public reporting on quality and costs, including recognition
of consensus standards of care. The initiative also supports
interoperable health information technology and incentives for value
purchasing in health care.
The Value Exchanges would be independent, non-profit organizations. In
recent years, a number of collaboratives of this kind have been created
independently in communities throughout the country. The new plan would
help bring such collaboratives into a national system, as well as
stimulating more communities to create such collaboratives. It would
also create a national Learning Network to help the chartered Value
Exchanges move quickly to expand and improve quality assessment.
Secretary Leavitt said that HHS will invite initial applicants to be
chartered as Value Exchanges. HHS will also stimulate development of
more collaboratives by formally recognizing early community efforts to
bring stakeholders together for quality improvement and reporting.
The system would include two types of collaboratives:
* Community Leaders -- Less-developed collaboratives, especially
those aiming at growth in stakeholder participation and quality
measurement capacity.
* Value Exchanges -- Collaboratives that best meet criteria and
are selected by HHS to be chartered and carry out quality improvement
and public reporting.
Advanced collaboratives that meet additional criteria may qualify to
pool their data with Medicare data for broadest-based measurement of
provider performance and quality outcomes.
Existing local and regional collaboratives that have developed
independently in recent years would be expected to form the initial core
of Value Exchanges receiving HHS charters. In addition, six existing
collaboratives were selected last year to pioneer the process of pooling
local and Medicare data, under Medicare's "Better Quality Information to
Improve Care for Medicare Beneficiaries" program. The six pilots will
continue to function as special Medicare demonstrations.
In measuring providers' performance and publicly reporting the findings,
the Value Exchanges would use nationally-recognized standards. These
standards, developed through public-private efforts, also form the basis
for ongoing Medicare quality and performance reporting. The Exchanges
could also pioneer new quality improvement strategies and share results
through the Learning Network.
The new system would be administered by HHS' Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ). AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D.,
said providers would lead in the development of standards.
"The goal is to achieve both national coordination in developing
standards and local control in applying them," Secretary Leavitt said.
"The Value-Driven Health Care Initiative is aiming at both of these
goals -- and at the same time, aiming to keep control in the private and
professional sectors. The federal government can help organize -- but
providers, purchasers and consumers themselves must be in charge and
make the system work."
For more information: www.hhs.gov/transparency.
TO REPORT ON HEALTH CARE QUALITY AND COST AT LOCAL LEVEL
Plan Combines Nationally-Recognized Standards with Local Control
HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt today unveiled a plan for chartering local
collaborative organizations that are working to improve quality and
value in health care by assessing the performance of local health care
providers and reporting these findings publicly. The plan would bring
the local collaboratives into a nation-wide system, and the
collaboratives would use nationally-recognized standards to measure and
improve quality of care in their local areas.
"This plan is about giving consumers good information to make decisions
about their health care, and giving providers information to help them
improve care," Secretary Leavitt said. "It's also about hard work
and
trust. At the local level, providers and purchasers can meet eye-to-eye
and achieve the trust that must underlie a system of improvement based
on more open information."
Under the plan, HHS would select qualified regional collaboratives to be
chartered as Value Exchanges. In such collaboratives, local area
physicians, nurses, hospitals and other health care providers are
working collaboratively with health plans, employers, unions and other
health care purchasers to achieve reliable public reporting on quality
and cost of care. As HHS-chartered Value Exchanges, they would continue
to focus on quality improvement and would provide public reports on the
performance of providers in their area.
The plan for Value Exchanges is part of the Value-Driven Health Care
Initiative, a public-private effort launched by Secretary Leavitt last
year to improve quality and lower costs in health care delivery. The
first element of this initiative, which is still on-going, aims at
national coordination by calling on all health care stakeholders to
commit to public reporting on quality and costs, including recognition
of consensus standards of care. The initiative also supports
interoperable health information technology and incentives for value
purchasing in health care.
The Value Exchanges would be independent, non-profit organizations. In
recent years, a number of collaboratives of this kind have been created
independently in communities throughout the country. The new plan would
help bring such collaboratives into a national system, as well as
stimulating more communities to create such collaboratives. It would
also create a national Learning Network to help the chartered Value
Exchanges move quickly to expand and improve quality assessment.
Secretary Leavitt said that HHS will invite initial applicants to be
chartered as Value Exchanges. HHS will also stimulate development of
more collaboratives by formally recognizing early community efforts to
bring stakeholders together for quality improvement and reporting.
The system would include two types of collaboratives:
* Community Leaders -- Less-developed collaboratives, especially
those aiming at growth in stakeholder participation and quality
measurement capacity.
* Value Exchanges -- Collaboratives that best meet criteria and
are selected by HHS to be chartered and carry out quality improvement
and public reporting.
Advanced collaboratives that meet additional criteria may qualify to
pool their data with Medicare data for broadest-based measurement of
provider performance and quality outcomes.
Existing local and regional collaboratives that have developed
independently in recent years would be expected to form the initial core
of Value Exchanges receiving HHS charters. In addition, six existing
collaboratives were selected last year to pioneer the process of pooling
local and Medicare data, under Medicare's "Better Quality Information to
Improve Care for Medicare Beneficiaries" program. The six pilots will
continue to function as special Medicare demonstrations.
In measuring providers' performance and publicly reporting the findings,
the Value Exchanges would use nationally-recognized standards. These
standards, developed through public-private efforts, also form the basis
for ongoing Medicare quality and performance reporting. The Exchanges
could also pioneer new quality improvement strategies and share results
through the Learning Network.
The new system would be administered by HHS' Agency for Healthcare
Research and Quality (AHRQ). AHRQ Director Carolyn M. Clancy, M.D.,
said providers would lead in the development of standards.
"The goal is to achieve both national coordination in developing
standards and local control in applying them," Secretary Leavitt said.
"The Value-Driven Health Care Initiative is aiming at both of these
goals -- and at the same time, aiming to keep control in the private and
professional sectors. The federal government can help organize -- but
providers, purchasers and consumers themselves must be in charge and
make the system work."
For more information: www.hhs.gov/transparency.