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Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Welcome!
Blog by Ned Helms
This September will mark the fourth anniversary of the Citizens Health Initiative in New Hampshire. Our website provides a look at our past activities and current projects. One thing is very clear—the need for systemic reform of the health and healthcare infrastructure in our country is even more urgent today than it was in 2005, when the Endowment for Health urged the creation of this effort. While the national health reform debate in Washington may be getting the most attention today, the actual reform efforts will need the focused engagement of everyone at the regional, state and local levels.
The Initiative is currently focused on five “Pillar Projects” that are central to improvement of the system. The first pillar project focuses on the importance of harmonizing our population health and clinical care efforts. That topic was recently the subject of an insightful article in the July 15th Journal of the American Medical Association, which stressed the need for that type of integration. The second pillar project focuses on expansion and promotion of Health Information Technology and Exchange. The third pillar, Health Finance & Structure Transparency, is dedicated to increasing the transparency of information regarding the cost and quality of healthcare. The fourth pillar, The Medical Home Project, is a collaborative pilot program among the major commercial insurers in the State to incentivize well-coordinated medical care. And last, and perhaps most critical, is our Health Payment Reform pillar, which is working towards developing alternatives to the fee-for-service reimbursement model.
The goal of this new blog is to bring you information about health and the healthcare system to include not only our efforts, but work being done at regional, state, and local levels. We are all hoping to create a healthier population and a more focused, effective system. We will try to link you to thoughtful and provocative ideas, share perspectives other than our own, and above all, try to generate a conversation to transform the most expensive national healthcare system in the world to the most efficient system.
As The Citizens Health Initiative enters its fifth year, we invite you to join the conversation through this site. We are all invested in the future of this critical domestic policy reform. Share your thoughts!
Tags: Citizens Health Initiative, health, ned helms, reform
Great start! Can’t wait for more posts.
Great to see the NH Citizens Health Initiative join the blogosphere! Couldn’t be a better time to add quality information and discussion to our civic dialogue on health care.