As healthcare quality and patient safety concerns increase, the latest Commonwealth Fund Health Care Opinion Leaders survey finds leaders united behind several key reform measures: more than half (56 percent) support the creation of a new public-private entity to coordinate quality efforts and form a national quality agenda; 95 percent believe that fundamental payment reform is needed; and three-fourths (73 percent) say that greater organization and integration of provider care is necessary for improved quality and efficiency.
The survey report, Health Care Opinion Leaders’ Views on the Quality and Safety of Health Care in the United States, also found consensus for specific strategies: 90 percent of respondents said use of health IT should be mandated for Medicare providers within 5 or 10 years, 51 percent support financial incentives for physicians and hospitals to provide high-quality care, and 59 percent of respondents support public reporting of providers’ performance on quality measures. Only 7 percent felt that the current Patient Safety and Quality Improvement Act was sufficient to guarantee patient safety, and three-fourths felt information about a physicians’ or hospitals’ patient safety record should not be confidential. Also, 73 percent support Medicare reform that would pay medical homes for care coordination. Read the data brief.
