Welcome to State of Our Health!
If you’re reading this, then you’re interested in improving the
quality of health care. So am I.
In my role as president of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA),
improving the quality of health care is our mission, and it underscores all we
do. As Chair of the State of Our Health steering committee, I work with the
committee to ensure that our forums facilitate meaningful dialogue among health
care thought leaders, policy-makers and executives, and appropriate follow-up
to keep the momentum going. With the introduction of this web site, and thanks
to the ongoing support of AstraZeneca, we can now provide expanded access to
information and resources that will help ensure the active pursuit of a
value-driven health care system.
The need to drive quality improvement is greater than ever. Cost pressures are
enormous. Employers are demanding answers. Consumers are bearing more cost. And
despite significant gains, quality is mixed at best.
Much can be done to close the quality gap that exists between the performance of
the health care system on average and that of the best accountable health plans.
First, we must extend transparency throughout the health care system. NCQA and
its HEDIS® measures have made great strides in health plan reporting, but
we must expand our data sets beyond HMOs to others, including PPOs, and to
hospitals, physicians, and other providers of care. We need to reform the
payment system to one that creates incentives for good quality, no longer pays
for poor quality, and rewards investment in information systems that are
essential to the process. Last, we need to engage patients on a broader level
to encourage their active participation in their health and health care, while
holding insurers and providers accountable for delivering appropriate
information and support.
Across the nation, coalitions are forming, demonstration projects are under way,
and pay for performance initiatives are delivering early, encouraging results.
We hope that your organization will engage as well. And we hope that State of
Our Health, and this web site, will provide the foundation for a virtual
community of organizations with a shared vision of better health care for all.
On the site, you’ll find summaries of the more than 20 forums that have
been held to date, as well as articles from some of the nation’s leaders
in health care measurement and improvement. You’ll also find links to
organizations working on programs that you can participate in or use as models
for your own initiatives. We will work to update content regularly, and hope
that you’ll visit often.
Margaret E. O’Kane
Chair, State of Our Health Steering Committee
President, National Committee for Quality Assurance