Ensuring that everyone in the United States has health insurance is essential, but it is not enough to drive the kind of reform the health system needs, according to a new report released Nov. 15 by the Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System.
Guaranteeing affordable health insurance for all, changing the way physicians and other healthcare providers are paid, better organizing and coordinating care delivery, investing in implementing an electronic information system in a reasonable period of time (aiming for five years), and establishing national goals and doing what it takes to reach them through strong national leadership should all be on the next president’s healthcare agenda, says the report.
“This report outlines how essential it is that we pursue improvements in health care quality and efficiency at the same time as we pursue universal coverage,” said James Mongan, MD, commission chair and CEO of Partners Health System. “We cannot and should not hold either of these facets of reform hostage while we wait for the other to happen”
In the report, A High Performance Health System for the United States: An Ambitious Agenda for the Next President, the commissioners call for bold changes to the health care system in the next five years, including affordable coverage for all, aligned incentives and effective cost control, accountable coordinated care, a higher aim for quality and efficiency, and accountable leadership.
