health care reform

The health care reform law has a name: the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (HR 3590). What’s in a name? In this case, a great deal. 

Our Value Compass and health care reform; it’s a great fit. 

President Obama recently nominated Don Berwick, MD, to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency that oversees the programs and payment of more than $800 billion annually. This is the largest source of payments to health care providers in the U.S. If he is confirmed, the appointment of Dr. Berwick may be the most significant first step since the passage of the Health Care Reform bill.

The United States Congress has passed a law that President Obama will sign that will guarantee access to health insurance for nearly everyone who lives in the US. This legislation is a huge step in the direction of making access to health care a right, not a privilege.

Finally.

There is much to be critical and unsure of in the new law. But, I don’t think that is what we should focus on.

Team-based care is the path to the future, Jack Cochran, MD, executive director of the Permanente Federation, told Sunday’s morning plenary session.

“We are proving to the world it can be done,” George Halvorson, chief executive officer  and president of Kaiser Health Plan and Hospitals, told the delegates in the opening plenary session this morning (March 13). Proving, that is, that quality health care can be delivered at lower costs.

More than 600 delegates opened their annual conference on March 12 with a tribute to John Sweeney, president emeritus of the AFL-CIO.   Before the event got under way, Union Coalition Executive Director John August caught up with Sweeney, who played a pivotal role in launching the Partnership in 1997. The two chatted about where the Partnership has come and where we're headed.

What if? What if we woke up one morning, and the news reported that all of the people who lived in St. Paul, Minnesota had…died?

On February 20th, Dr. Jack Cochran, MD, Executive Director of the Permanente Federation spoke to the National Governors Association (NGA) in Washington, DC.

Accelerate grow, drive. That’s the mantra for the Labor Management Partnership in 2010. Senior VP Barbara Grimm explains how the partnership needs to accelerate the spread of UBTs, grow KP’s membership and drive culture change. It’s a tall order, but Barb says frontline managers and employees—as well as their leaders—are up to the task.

By the end of this year, 100% of the KP workforce is slated to be working in unit-based teams, up from 70% in 2009. The teams are proving they can make a dramatic difference in terms of service, quality and affordability--but there are challenges facing us. We recently caught up with Barbara Grim, Senior VP of the Labor Management Partnership, at the OLMP All-Hands meeting. She talked about what lies ahead.