The National Quality Forum (NQF) https://qualityforum.org/home.aspx on June 24, 2020 released The Care We Need: Driving Better Health Outcomes for People and Communities, a National Quality Task Force report providing a roadmap to consistent and predictable high-quality care for everyone by 2030.
Underscored by the COVID-19 pandemic, the report specifies opportunities to improve health outcomes and recommendations of people and communities focusing on the importance of a seamless system of comprehensive accessible care designed to keep people healthy and well.
The Task Force identified several contemporary realities representing opportunities and challenges that must be considered to achieve progress such as:
- Technological innovation in healthcare delivery to produce rapid advancement and develop technologies from artificial intelligent to virtual care to genomics to change healthcare delivery
- Deal with the proliferation of measures that are confusing, burdensome, and dissatisfying to stakeholders and users
- Change business models by consolidating and integrating healthcare stakeholders, provide alternative payment models, and develop new innovative delivery models with new market entrants
- Deal with value driven care as costs continue to rise at unsustainable rates and care is still not value driven
- Move forward with the lack of person-centered care as consumers today are not sufficiently educated, engaged, or empowered in their care decision making
The Task Force concluded that private and public sector leaders should focus on:
- Enabling leaders across the delivery system build a proficient workforce
- Implement the seamless flow of reliable data so providers, payers, and other stakeholders will have real time access to standardized, valid information from a variety of clinical and nonclinical data sources
- Work towards achieving a value-driven system of care that considers the whole person and addresses health disparities by investing more in primary care and prevention and accelerate the transition to population health models
- Support activated consumers, patients, and caregivers with actionable information needed to become effective care partners
- Achieve actionable transparency as healthcare must advance to the stage of other high performing industries that continually raise quality performance and expectations
Go to https://thecareweneed.org to view the report.