Bringing Private Sector Innovation to Federal Health Reform Efforts

There’s no question that, if we’re ever to have effective health reform in this country, improving our healthcare delivery system has to come through a public-private partnership.

One of the key elements of the Affordable Care Act is the creation of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), an entity that will be charged with evaluating concepts for healthcare delivery reform and then putting into action demonstration projects that have the potential to improve healthcare quality and increase cost-efficiency.

Fortunately, much of this ground is already being broken in the private sector.  Throughout the country, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, medical device manufacturers, group purchasing organizations, insurers, distributors and other health sectors are succeeding in developing new practices and technologies to improve patient care, control costs and promote value.

At the Healthcare Leadership Council, we’ve compiled a number of these examples, with supporting metrics, and provided them to Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services administrator Dr. Don Berwick.  We call the document the HLC Value Compendium.

The purpose of the publication is spelled out in the forward that McKesson Chairman and CEO John Hammergren and I wrote.  It says, “This compilation has a definite and important purpose.  The promising work being performed by private sector healthcare organizations can serve as models for policymakers seeking to inject innovation into public programs and thereby moving our nation’s healthcare system to one more strongly defined by quality and cost-effectiveness.”