Although performance measurement efforts have made a positive impact on quality, only so much can be done when healthcare payment systems penalize improvement and the fragmentation of providers impedes coordination. Significant changes in the way healthcare is paid for, the way providers are organized, and the way consumer benefits are structured will be needed to achieve greater value in healthcare. To be successful, these changes must be made in a coordinated way.
Regional Health Improvement Collaboratives can serve as catalysts for payment and delivery system reforms, as neutral planning and problem-solving forums where win-win multi-payer, multi-provider payment and delivery reforms can be designed, and as sources of both leadership and technical assistance in implementing needed reforms.
NRHI was one of 11 organizations chosen by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid to provide technical assistance and support to eligible individual or small group practices of 15 or fewer to support the transition of Medicare payments from a fee-for-service system to one based on performance and patient outcomes under the Quality Payment Program (QPP) Small, Underserved, & Rural Support (SURS) program.
NRHI was selected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) as one of 10 support and alignment networks (SAN) under the Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative (TCPI). NRHI High-Value Care SAN leveraged the experiences and successes of its regional health improvement collaborative (RHIC) members to provide educational resources, tools, and technical assistance to clinicians.
NRHI and its Regional Health Improvement Collaborative (RHIC) members in Colorado, Massachusetts, Oregon, and Utah partnered with the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) and Harvard University in the Comparative Health System Performance Initiative Study funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
