Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt is declaring an initial victory in his campaign to enlist large employers in a push for health IT and other elements of what he calls value-driven health care.
In the last month, at least three states and more than 100 companies have committed themselves to the initiative, which has the four goals laid out in President Bush’s August 2006 executive order on health care.
Besides standards-based health records systems, the initiative calls for reporting on the quality of health care, giving patients cost information up front and providing incentives or rewards for those who choose quality care at competitive prices.
By spring, when the acquisition cycle for 2008 health care begins, Leavitt wants to have more than 60 percent of the health care buyers include these goals in their purchasing. The federal government accounts for about two-thirds of that goal.
An HHS news release said the states of Virginia, Georgia and Texas have committed themselves to the program, along with companies such as IBM, General Mills, Xerox, Starbucks and the country’s three largest automakers.
Leavitt has been touring the nation to meet with corporate executives. He also held a Nov. 17 summit attended by hundreds of business leaders, according to the release.
“Medicare, the Veterans Affairs health system, the Federal Employees Health Benefit Program and certain other federal health care programs will begin delivering on the four goals in the coming year,” it said.
HHS officials have said that once a certain portion of health plans are committed to the HHS goals, the rest will naturally fall in line. Employers and the federal government buy the vast majority of health coverage for Americans.
Government Health IT presents Liesa Jo Jenkins, executive director of CareSpark, in this recent eSeminar, where she shared her experiences and insight into building a health information exchange that enhances community health, rewards regional collaboration and drives economic progress.
