The Triple Aim Journey: Improving Population Health and Patients' Experience of Care, While Reducing Costs

Provides an overview of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's initiative designed to help improve population health, enhance patients' experience of care, and slow the growth of per capita costs. Outlines early results from three case study sites

Organizing for Higher Performance: Case Studies of Organized Delivery Systems

Offers lessons learned from healthcare delivery systems promoting the attributes of an ideal model as defined by the Fund: information continuity, care coordination and transitions, system accountability, teamwork, continuous innovation, and easy access

Advancing Patient Safety in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs

As part of a systemwide transformation, the VA formed its National Center for Patient Safety to foster an organizational culture of safety within its nationwide network of hospitals and outpatient clinics. A recent medical team training program designed to improve communication among operating room staff was associated with a reduction in surgical mortality and improvements in quality of care, on-time surgery starts, and staff morale. The program is now being expanded to other clinical units, along with a patient engagement program that prevents errors by facilitating communication relating to patients' daily care plans. A recognition program stimulated facilities to conduct timelier and higher-quality root-cause analyses of reported safety events to identify stronger actions for preventing their recurrence. Other initiatives have reduced rates of health care -- associated infections, patient mortality, and post-operative complications. Success factors include leadership accountability for performance and organizational support for testing, expanding, and adopting improvements

The New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation: Transforming a Public Safety Net Delivery System to Achieve Higher Performance

Describes the results of the public benefit corporation's improvement initiatives -- a common clinical information system for continuity, coordination on chronic disease management, teamwork and continuous innovation, and access to appropriate care

Quality of Health Care for Medicare Beneficiaries: A Chartbook

Provides the results of a review of recently published studies and reports about the quality of health care for elderly Medicare beneficiaries. Includes examples of deficiencies and disparities in care, and some promising quality improvement initiatives

Marshfield Clinic: Health Information Technology Paves the Way for Population Health Management

Highlights Fund-defined attributes of an ideal care delivery system and best practices, including an internal electronic health record, primary care teams, physician quality metrics and mentors, and standardized care processes for chronic care management

Committed to Safety: Ten Case Studies on Reducing Harm to Patients

Presents case studies of healthcare organizations, clinical teams, and learning collaborations to illustrate successful innovations for improving patient safety nationwide. Includes actions taken, results achieved, lessons learned, and recommendations

Keeping the Commitment: A Progress Report on Four Early Leaders in Patient Safety Improvement

Examines four healthcare systems' expansion of patient safety interventions over five years through the development of practical training methods, effective tools for minimizing errors, an emphasis on goal setting and accountability, and other approaches

Quality of Health Care for Children and Adolescents: A Chartbook

Contains 40 charts and analyses that represent the current state of pediatric health care. Provides practical guidance and recommendations for policymakers, health care professionals, and patient advocates

Aging Gracefully: The PACE Approach to Caring for Frail Elders in the Community

Mountain Empire is one of the newest of more than 100 independent PACE organizations across the nation that serve both as health plans and as medical and long-term service providers to elders—offering meals, checkups, rehabilitation services, home visits, and many other supports that enable enrollees to preserve their independence. The model for PACE dates back to 1971, when a public health dentist and social worker from the San Francisco Public Health Department working in Chinatown-North Beach noticed that as their clients aged, many needed extra support but dreaded moving into nursing homes. They founded On Lok Senior Health Services as an alternative to institutional care that would allow elders to "age in place" in their homes; on lokis Cantonese for "peaceful, happy abode."On Lok's founders were particularly concerned about elderly clients who suffered when their various clinicians failed to work together, sometimes leading to complications that necessitated moves into institutional care. They designed On Lok to promote what was then an innovative approach: coordinating care from an interdisciplinary team of professionals who provide all primary care services and oversee specialists' services.A Medicare-funded demonstration spanning 1979 to 1983 found this approach had many benefits. Care teams were able to prevent or quickly address problems, resulting in better health and quality of life and producing 15 percent lower costs than traditional Medicare. In the decades since, the model has spread slowly, though enrollment has grown nearly 40 percent in the past three years. As of January 2016, there were 118 PACE organizations in 31 states serving some 39,000 elders