HHS Launches $840M Initiative to Lower Health Costs Through System Redesign

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M. Burwell today announced an initiative that will fund successful applicants who work directly with medical providers to rethink and redesign their practices, moving from systems driven by quantity of care to ones focused on patients’ health outcomes, and coordinated health care systems. These applicants could include group practices, health care systems, medical provider associations and others. This effort will help clinicians develop strategies to share, adapt and further improve the quality of care they provide, while holding down costs, according to Burwell. Strategies could include:

• Giving doctors better access to patient information, such as information on prescription drug use to help patients take their medications properly;
• Expanding the number of ways patients are able communicate with the team of clinicians taking care of them;
• Improving the coordination of patient care by primary care providers, specialists, and the broader medical community; and
• Using electronic health records on a daily basis to examine data on quality and efficiency.

“The administration is partnering with clinicians to find better ways to deliver care, pay providers and distribute information to improve the quality of care we receive and spend our nation’s dollars more wisely,” said Burwell.  “We all have a stake in achieving these goals and delivering for patients, providers and taxpayers alike.”