The U.S. health care system can deliver higher quality care at lower costs. We have to look no further than our own backyards to prove it is possible. Across the nation, dozens of high performing health systems show us that high quality, affordable care for everyone can be a reality.

This page showcases some of these programs, both big initiatives and small success stories. Check back often for the latest analysis and news from our blog, the New Health Dialogue Blog.

Reform Spotlight

IN THE STATES: Doing Primary Care Right -- In Alaska (Part 1)
September 17, 2009
Southcentral Foundation (SCF), a tribal-owned health care system, has attracted notice nationally for its innovation and ability to find a better way to deliver quality care.

QUALITY: The Right Stuff, From Coast to Coast
August 25, 2009
High performing health systems across the U.S. show us that our goals for health reform -- high quality, low cost, and coverage for all Americans -- are possible.

QUALITY: Will It Work Here?
July 30, 2009
Lots of experts are doing lots of things to try to make health care better. But how does a specific doctor or clinic or hospital or insurer know what innovations to adopt in a specific setting and when and how to adopt (or adapt) them?

HC4HR: A New Model for Accountable Care
August 10, 2008
Donna Katen-Bahensky, president and CEO of University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics and a member of Health CEOs for Health Reform, describes her organization's efforts to change the dynamics of modern medicine through the principles of accountable care organizations (ACO).

For more, check out our posts on "Quality" at the New Health Dialogue.

In the News

'Frequent Fliers' Add Billions to Hospital Bills
By Joanne Kenen, Kaiser Health News, June 30, 2009
Doctors call them frequent fliers. They are the patients who leave the hospital, only to boomerang back days or weeks later. They have become a front-burner challenge not only for hospitals and doctors but also for those trying to rein in rising costs. Typically elderly and suffering from the chronic diseases that account for 75 percent of health-care spending, their experiences of being readmitted time and again reflect many of the deficiencies in a fragmented, poorly coordinated health system geared toward acute care.

Making Practices Perfect
Time-Pressed Doctors Reinvent Their Offices To Build Improved Ties With Patients
By Joanne Kenen, The Washington Post, August 26, 2008
After several years in a traditional suburban group practice that blended pediatrics and family medicine, Ramona Seidel quit to start her own micro-practice in Annapolis: a low-overhead, high-tech office that gives her more control over how she treats patients and more time to spend with them.
Patient-centered care, chronic disease management, self-care and medical homes are all buzzwords in health policy circles these days, in the midst of the national dialogue about quality and systemic reform. But countless doctors, generalists and specialists alike, are moving ahead on their own, reinventing their clinical practices and finding more-effective and more-fulfilling ways of practicing medicine.

Policy Papers & Case Studies

Grand Junction, Colorado. It is possible to delivery higher quality care at lower costs in the U.S. health care system. We have to look no further than Grand Junction, CO to prove it is possible. In 2006, average Medicare spending per enrollee in Grand Junction was $5,800, about 30 percent lower than the national average of $8,300 and more than 60 percent lower than high-cost areas like McAllen, Texas. Despite its lack of a formal integrated delivery system, Grand Junction patients benefit from excellent outcomes, state-of-the-art health information technology, and the latest innovations in preventive and palliative care at much lower costs than elsewhere in the U.S.

Realigning U.S. Health Care Incentives to Better Serve Patients and Taxpayers. This policy paper contains the recommendations from the Health CEOs for Health Reform, a diverse group of health industry leaders dedicated to creating an affordable, sustainable health system. The paper emphasizes the need to refocus health care delivery on the patient and move away from fee-for-service medicine. With proper investments in electronic infrastructure, best practice information, and payment incentives, the U.S. health care system can deliver high-quality, efficient, patient-centered care to all within the next decade.

Hill Physicians Medical Group. Hill demonstrates how an affiliated group of independent physicians can improve clinical outcomes, increase efficiency, and engender physician support for quality improvement and cost reduction activities. Working with health educators, member physicians have improved patient care, especially in the area of chronic disease management. Physicians are informed about and encouraged to participate in quality improvement initiatives, including health information technology training.

Baylor Health Care System. Baylor Health Care System (BHCS) is a nonprofit integrated delivery system based in the Dallas/Fort Worth, Texas. Baylor comprises a network of hospitals, primary care and specialty care centers, rehabilitation clinics, senior health centers, and affiliated ambulatory surgery centers. Baylor uses training programs, as well as physicians, to encourage system-wide initiatives and cement the quality mission across the system. The system has successfully implemented electronic health records, decreased mortality rates, and standardized care.

For more, check out the "Good News" section on our blog, the New Health Dialogue.