The nation’s healthcare sector is shifting rapidly to a system whereby patients can get better information about the quality and cost of their care, said Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt last week at a roundtable of key business, union, government, community, and healthcare leaders.
Less than a year after launching his value-driven health care initiative, Leavitt announced that more than 100 million Americans are now served by health plans that are committed to providing consumers with transparent quality and cost information. The federal government, many states, about 775 employers, and numerous unions, communities, physicians, and hospitals have joined the movement.
Most plans that are committed to the value-based approach will embody the principles of value-driven care in their next contracting cycle, generally for 2008. And most enrollees in these plans are expected to have access to web-based “report cards” on quality or cost within the next 12 months.
“Consumers have extensive information to help them make good choices when they buy cars or get mortgages,” Leavitt said. “But when it comes to choices about their health care, little information about quality or cost has been available. The purpose of the value-driven healthcare movement is to make that information available, and then reward people for using it.” Read the press release.
