A Framework for a High Performance Health System
<p>While acknowledging that the U.S. provides some of the best medical care in the world, The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System believes that overall, the nation fails to achieve adequate value for the resources it devotes to health care.<br><br>Earlier today, the Commission issued its <a href="/cnlib/pub/enews_clickthrough.htm?enews_item_id=23437&return_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww%2Ecmwf%2Eorg%2Fpublications%2Fpublications%5Fshow%2Ehtm%3Fdoc%5Fid%3D387153%26%23doc387153">Framework for a High Performance Health System for the United States,</a> a consensus statement that describes the most critical sources of our current system's failures and outlines a vision of a uniquely American, high performance health system.<br><br>The 18-member Commission, founded in July 2005, includes prominent experts and leaders from every sector of health care. Its new report identifies concrete steps that could be taken to improve value, including:<ul><li>implementing on a wide scale policies and practices known to improve quality and safety;</li><li>expanding the use of information technology in health care;</li><li>rewarding high performing providers through our payment systems;</li><li>expanding the public reporting of data on health care quality and costs; and</li><li>importantly, expanding health insurance coverage.</li></ul><br>Such changes will require establishing more organized and coordinated systems that enable health care providers to provide safe, high-quality health services for a range of acute and chronic care needs, the report finds. At the same time, the Commission believes that providers must be held accountable for meeting benchmarks for quality, safety, and efficiency.<br><br>"There is wide agreement among the public, policymakers, and health care professionals that we should get much more from our health care system," said Commission Chair James J. Mongan, M.D., president and CEO of Partners HealthCare System in Boston. "Our message to the nation is that our future health and economic well-being depends on acting now to begin the transformation."</p>
http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/newsletters/ealerts/2006/aug/a-framework-for-a-high-performance-health-system