The Better Care Plan: Continuous Improvement, Lower Total Cost, Enhanced Patient Safety and Patient Outcomes
Stephen M. Shortell, Ph.D., M.P.H., M.B.A. Gail Wilensky, Ph.D. (AcademyHealth 8/28/23)
Despite pockets of excellence, our nation’s health care system remains deeply flawed. In some hospitals, nearly 25 percent of hospital admissions result in an adverse patient safety event; the same condition produces up to three-fold differences in hospital mortality, and deaths from serious treatable conditions and there are large differences in outcomes of care by race/ethnicity and geography. The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted health care’s weaknesses—serving as a wake-up call for needed improvements.
Much remains to be done to ensure that all Americans have affordable health insurance coverage. But improving the health care we receive is an even larger challenge—involving fundamental changes in how we pay for care, provide care, and report on the safety and quality of care received. In the Better Care Plan, we suggested in Health Affairs Scholar that a certification process be established for provider organizations that meet specified criteria in these three areas of care delivery.
