IHI puts the spotlight on innovators pursuing better care

CAMBRIDGE, MA – Hospitals, physician practices and health plans across the country are boosting care – and saving millions – by employing quality measures, information technology and plenty of innovation. A new book tells the stories behind the successes.

Maureen Bisognano, president and CEO of the independent, nonprofit Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and Charles Kenney, a healthcare journalist put the spotlight on seven of these organizations in a new book, “Pursuing the Triple Aim.”

[See also: Banner Health earns Stage 7 recognition]

The triple aim they refer to is better care, better health and lower costs.

Some these organizations – Bisognano calls them “pioneers” are pursuing these goals without drivers from the federal government.

“It’s an incredibly dynamic grassroots movement,” said Kenny in a recent webcast that included representatives from the hospitals, physician practices and health plans written about in the book. “It’s growing in a very natural way. There’s no holding these back.”

[See also: Medicaid RACs are ramping up]

Jack Cochran, MD, executive director of the Permanente Foundation, noted that Kaiser Permanente continues to foster “a culture that actually embraces measurement." Leadership is critical, he said. “We must make it very clear why we need to commit to a mission of improvement.”

At Atrius Health, an Alliance of six medical groups in Eastern and Central Massachusetts, Chief Medical Officer Rick Lopez said the leaders are mounting a campaign against practice variation.

Michael O’Connell, vice president at Mount Auburn Hospitals in Cambridge, Mass., which works with Atrius, said his organization has moved from fee-for-service payments to global payments, and to value-based purchasing.

CareOregon is a health plan with 60,000 members. David Labby, MD, its medical director, said CareOregon is looking at ways to move beyond the walls of the office and into the community.

The impetus for the book, said Bisognano, is to show what some innovators have done and perhaps to generate new ideas for improving care.

“As the Triple Aim moves from being largely an aspirational framework to something that communities all across the US can implement and learn from, its potential to become a touchstone for the work ahead has never been greater,” she said.