Harkness Project Title: Using Financial Incentives to Promote Evidence Based Interventions in Primary Healthcare: Early Results from the California Pay for Performance Program
Mentors: Robert M. Crane, and Paul Wallace, M.D.
Placement : Kaiser Permanente
Biography at time of Harkness Fellowship: Martin Hefford, a 2003-04 Commonwealth Fund Harkness Fellow in Health Care Policy and Practice, is chief operating officer at Coast District Health Board, where he was previously director for quality and integrated care. He also served as a general manager responsible for service planning and funding in the Hutt Valley District Health Board in New Zealand. Hefford was involved in New Zealand's experimentation with a funder provider split from its conception in 1993, having a variety of roles first in the Central Regional Health Authority, including General Manager Mental Health, and then, when the RHAs were amalgamated, in the Health Funding Authority as Senior Locality Manager responsible for personal health services. With the election of a Labour Government in 1999, he became a member of the working group that developed operating rules and policy for the new District Health Boards.
Project: Martin Hefford conducted an early, qualitative assessment of the impact of the Californian Pay-for-Performance (P4P) Scheme on the use of chronic care management and preventative care strategies. He conducted case studies at seven medical groups/independent practice associations involved in the P4P program, each involving interviews with the quality director or medical director and the CEO when available. The interviews focused on the strengths and weaknesses of the program, and its impact on their organization.
Career Activity Since Fellowship
- Chief Executive Officer, Compass Health, 2012
- Director, LECG, 2008
- Chief Operating Office, Capital & Coast District Health Board, 2007
- Director Quality and Integrated Care, Captial & Coast District Health Board, 2005
Current Position: Chief Executive Officer, Compass Health (Updated 1/2014)
E-Mail: [email protected]
Selected Publications
Hefford, M., "Proactive Chronic Disease Management: New Roles for Practice Nurses," Practice Nurse, Jan 2006.
Hefford M, Crampton P, Foley J. "Reducing Health Disparities Through Primary Care Reform: The New Zealand Experiment," Health Policy 2005; 72: 9–23.