Several health reform bills before Congress could lead to significant improvements in healthcare quality and efficiency, but they fall short of an overarching, coordinated plan that would create a better overall healthcare system for the country, according to an analysis released July 26 by the Commonwealth Fund. “Taken as a whole, they leave important gaps that will prevent this country from providing accessible, high-quality, efficient care to all,” said Karen Davis, president of The Commonwealth Fund, and lead author of the study.
The report, An Analysis of Leading Congressional Health Care Bills, 2005–2007: Part II, Quality and Efficiency, is the second installment in a two-part series assessing major healthcare proposals before Congress. The analysis indicates that bills seeking to change Medicare’s payment structure hold the most promise for healthcare savings and quality improvement.
Among the recommendations by Davis and colleagues are a coordinated policy strategy with national goals to guide improvement efforts, fundamental payment reform that moves away from the current fee-for-service model, and reorienting the healthcare system to encourage prevention, early primary care, and chronic disease management, including patient designation of a patient-centered primary care home. Read the executive summary.
