Making Sense of the Many Delivery System Reform Efforts
<p>The list of efforts under way to improve health care delivery is both long and wide-ranging. Among the innovations are patient-centered medical homes, accountable care organizations, health homes, and health information exchanges. </p>
<p>Anthony Shih, M.D, M.P.H., The Commonwealth Fund's executive vice president for programs, views these initiatives not as competitive or duplicative, but rather as synergistic, with each effort moving us toward the higher goal of a more organized delivery system. In a <a href="/blog/2011/making-sense-multiple-delivery-system-reform-efforts">new blog post,</a> Shih says success should not be determined project by project, such as by transforming all primary care practices into medical homes or by connecting all providers electronically. Instead, success is defined by how each effort fits with the others and contributes to the organization of the health care system. </p>
<p>"The evidence to date strongly suggests, and I firmly believe, that an organized health system is a necessary (though not sufficient) condition to achieve our ultimate goal of high-quality care and better population health, at a reasonable and sustainable cost for all," Shih writes. <br /></p>