The State Quality Improvement Institute, launched in April 2008, is designed to help states plan and implement concrete efforts to improve health system performance and to share best practices among states. It is sponsored by The Commonwealth Fund and led by AcademyHealth. Read more »
States are promoting the chronic care model and medical homes, supported by payment reform and patient registries. The intent is to transform the system from one that reacts once someone gets very sick to one that provides proactive, comprehensive, and coordinated care to keep people with chronic illnesses as healthy as possible. Read more »
Through the Vermont Blueprint for Health, a public-private initiative to improve chronic care, Vermont is creating a patient registry to track patient medical conditions and treatments, guide chronic care treatment decisions, and measure health outcomes at the group and individual levels. Read more »
In May 2008, Pennsylvania Governor Edward Rendell's Office of Healthcare Reform launched the first phase of a chronic care program. The program aims to transform how medicine is practiced by rewarding primary care doctors for keeping patients with chronic conditions as healthy as possible. Read more »
In May 2008, Minnesota legislators and Governor Tim Pawlenty reached agreement on a comprehensive package of health care payment reforms designed to promote medical homes, quality measurement, and cost and quality transparency. Read more »
On July 15, Congress voted to override the president's veto of the "2008 Medicare Improvement for Patients and Providers Act" and enacted the legislation into law. The legislation includes numerous provisions that will affect Medicare providers and beneficiaries, including those eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare, and will have spillover effects for state Medicaid programs. Read more »