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State Primary Care Funding Strategy: From Spending Targets to Plans
Over the last several years, headlines have touted that multiple states are doubling their primary care spending as a percentage of total health expenditures. But only five states[1] have formal, enforceable primary care spending targets. And five additional states participating in CMS’s AHEAD program have committed to increasing primary care spending as a share of…
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Rural Health Transformation: A Proving Ground for State Primary Care Investment
The $50 billion federal Rural Health Transformation (RHT) Program is an unprecedented injection of capital averaging $200M per state annually through 2030. While legally earmarked for rural areas, smart state leaders know this isn’t just rural relief; it’s the launchpad for broader statewide primary care transformation. When you pair $1B per state in federal investment…
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State Primary Care Investment Strategy: Nine Key Levers
While high-quality primary care is the foundation of an effective health system, simply setting an ambitious primary care spending target does not guarantee better care, access, or equity. In recent years, more states have announced plans to increase or even “double” primary care spending as a share of total health expenditures. Yet only a small…
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State Primary Care Funding Strategy: An Infrastructure Investment Fund
Written by a former healthcare investment banker, who raised over $2 billion for voluntary hospitals, HMOs and related organizations, and the author of Rethinking Primary Care Investment Strategy and Nine Key Levers: A Framework for Implementing States’ Primary Care Investment Strategies. Any state that wants to invest in primary care should consider establishing a Primary…
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Rethinking Primary Care Investment Strategy
As a former healthcare investment banker, I observe what others have pointed out: that the U.S. will not fix its primary care crisis with higher annual expenditures alone. I argue for treating primary care as essential infrastructure by expanding the workforce through state-backed financing and loan relief, building modern information infrastructure with interoperable data platforms…
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Maximizing the Value of Employee Benefits with Quality Measurement & Reporting
Peter A. Wadsworth (LinkedIn 8/8/2024) Investing in healthcare quality initiatives is a cost-effective strategy for employers. This approach aims to maximize the value of their expenditures on employee health benefits. READ MORE
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Better Healthcare Policy Group convenes in Washington, DC
March 14, 2024 The Better Healthcare Policy Group convened a meeting at the American College of Surgeons in Washington, DC, to catalyze discussions on the implementation of the Better Care Plan. The gathering included a diverse group of nearly 40 payers, employer coalitions, providers, patient advocates, patient safety and health quality professionals convening to discuss…
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The Better Care Plan: a blueprint for improving America’s healthcare system
Stephen M Shortell, , John S Toussaint, , George C Halvorson, Jon M Kingsdale, Richard M Scheffler, Allyson Y Schwartz, Peter A Wadsworth, Gail Wilensky HealthAffairs Scholar 6/20/2023 Abstract The United States falls far short of its potential for delivering care that is effective, efficient, safe, timely, patient-centered, and equitable. We put forward the Better Care Plan, an overarching blueprint to…
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Publicly Reported Health Outcomes: A National Initiative To Improve Care
Peter A. Wadsworth, Stephen M. Shortell, John S. Toussaint (Health Affairs Forefront 7/19/22) In this article, we describe the rationale and design criteria for a public-private approach to improving the quality and value of health care in the United States: a Publicly Reported Health Outcomes (PRHO) program. This long-term, aspirational initiative, focused on results and…