Celebrating our accomplishments and looking to the future
The Alliance marked two important milestones last week. On December 10, we celebrated our tenth anniversary, gathering together many of the people who built the Alliance. Looking back and celebrating what we have accomplished, and recognizing the work we’ve done to get here, is important. But we are not resting on our laurels. We are excited about the future of health care in Washington state, and the role the Alliance will play to drive improvement.
Making Washington a national leader in the delivery of health care is no small task. Achieving that goal will require the effort of all of the stakeholders in the health care system: providers, health plans, purchasers and consumers. And knowing where there is room for improvement—and cause for celebration—is crucial. That’s why the Community Checkup plays such an important role in providing information to help transform our health care system.
Last week, in close partnership with the Health Care Authority, we released the first results from the Washington State Common Measure Set for Health Care Quality and Cost on the Community Checkup website. The release of the results is the culmination of more than a year of work by Alliance staff and many stakeholders in our community. This report is significant not only because it covers more health topics and units of analysis than any previous Community Checkup. But because it also represents what we can accomplish when people, with diverse interests and alliances, work together toward a common goal.
Measurement alone will not transform our health care system. That’s why the Common Measure Set was designed to be actionable. Over time, the expectation is that private and other public purchasers as well as health plans will adopt the Common Measure Set, building the measures directly into value-based health care contracts with doctors and hospitals. As part of the State’s Healthier Washington initiative, Washington aims to drive 80 percent of state-financed health care and 50 percent of the commercial market to value based payment by 2020.
There will be many opportunities in 2016 and beyond to learn more about the Common Measure Set and value-based purchasing. In March, we are co-sponsoring an event with King County, the Washington Roundtable and the State to help educate purchasers about value in health care. We will also be offering informational webinars to talk about the Community Checkup and Common Measure Set. If you are interested in a tailored presentation to your community or organization or want to learn more about the March purchaser event, please contact us.
One of the Alliance’s key beliefs is that by collaborating, we can accomplish far more than any single entity can accomplish alone. Thank you for your ongoing support of the Alliance.