ROCKEFELLER APPLAUDS NEW PLAN TO HELP IMPROVE QUALITY OF HEALTH CARE IN U.S.
Rockefeller Introduced Legislation Calling for National Health Care Strategy-
Provision Was Included in Last Year's Health Care Reform Law
WASHINGTON, D.C.- Senator Jay Rockefeller today provided the following statement on the release of the first national strategy to coordinate local, state, and national efforts to improve the quality of health care in the United States. The Affordable Care Act called for the strategy, which was released by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The United States has never before had a common framework for measuring and prioritizing initiatives to improve the quality of care.
The National Quality Strategy will promote quality health care that is focused on the needs of patients, families, and communities. At the same time, the strategy is designed to move the system to work better for doctors and other health care providers - reducing their administrative burdens and helping them collaborate to improve care.
"As we approach the anniversary of the enactment of the health care law, I'm very pleased to see the release of a coordinated plan to improve health care for patients and their families in this country," said Rockefeller. "We have an excellent health care system, but not everybody gets the right care in the right place at the right time. This strategy will help hospitals, doctors and nurses coordinate care, and patients will have an easier time getting the care they need, when they need it. I look forward to following the rollout of this strategy."
"The Affordable Care Act sets America on a path toward a higher quality health care system so we stop doing things that don't work for patients and start doing more of the things that do work," said HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. "American hospitals, doctors, nurses and other health care providers are among the best in the world. With this ground-breaking strategy, we are working with local communities and health care providers to help patients and improve the health of all Americans."
The National Quality Strategy is designed to be an evolving guide for the nation as we continue to move forward with efforts to measure and improve health and health care quality. HHS will continue to work with stakeholders to create specific quantitative goals and measures for each of the priorities outlined in its initial report. In addition, as different communities have various needs and assets, the strategy and HHS will empower them to take different paths to achieving these goals.
The National Quality Strategy will pursue three broad goals. These goals will be used to guide and assess local, state, and national efforts to improve the quality of health care for all Americans.
* Better Care: Improve the overall quality, by making health care more patient-centered, reliable, accessible, and safe.
* Healthy People/Healthy Communities: Improve the health of the U.S. population by supporting proven interventions to address behavioral, social and, environmental determinants of health in addition to delivering higher-quality care.
* Affordable Care: Reduce the cost of quality health care for individuals, families, employers, and government.
