QUALITY OVER QUANTITY PATIENT INITIATIVE

Last week, $840 million dollars was earmarked by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Sylvia M. Burwell, toward the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative. The goal is to create and support networks developed to help physicians have timely access to health information and ultimately result in improved health outcomes. The investment is over the next four years and will support 150,000 clinicians. 

Providers are being asked to redesign their practices, getting away from the patient volume model and moving towards a patient health outcome model.

These models will subsequently spawn coordinated health care networks which will include group practices, health care systems and others.

This model is being geared to help providers share patient health information safely within the network, to coordinate care and further improve the quality and delivery of care.  This strategy is also designed to reduce costs through this information sharing and coordination of care amongst the different providers and ultimately reduce hospital readmissions.

Some examples of this strategy include: Creation of shared patient portals where patients can communicate with their “team” of providers; allotting providers more access to pharmacies and patient medication information, to ensure and assist patients in medicating properly; and implementing and utilizing Electronic Medical Records (EMRs) to allow for safe, quicker sharing of patient health information amongst the provider team.

Participating provider practices and health care organizations will receive technical assistance and support from their peers to better provide synergetic patient care in a timely and efficient manner.

This will also prepare providers ahead of time to achieve success in a forthcoming health care arena, one that measure success and reimburse on value and outcomes.

Find out more about the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative