The Case for Change
In addition to conducting its own strategic planning process, BW/F is also involved in a simultaneous strategic planning process within the Partners HealthCare system. Because both processes include a focus on patient affordability and care redesign, hospital leaders are working to ensure synergy in these areas.
“This is a time of dynamic change in the health care environment, as health care costs are rising at rates that cannot be sustained,” said Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, president and CEO of Partners HealthCare. “As the state’s largest health care provider and largest private employer, we have a responsibility to improve care for our patients, our employees and our community while making health care more affordable.”
Multi-disciplinary teams from across Partners hospitals have been assembled to develop and implement a strategy for change in their institutions that focuses on three major areas: care redesign; patient affordability and Partners’ reputation and internal communications.
Care redesign will build on the clinical breadth and depth of Partners institutions to design and deliver more integrated, patient- family-centered care. Teams will focus on the entire episode of care, not just individual tests, procedures, visits and admissions. The care redesign teams are concentrating initial efforts on a few specific conditions, with a focus on high-risk populations, and primary care’s role to help improve access. Initial conditions include stroke, coronary disease (specifically, acute myocardial infarction and coronary artery bypass graft), colon cancer and diabetes.
In the patient affordability group, Partners hospitals will focus on care efficiency and other cost management efforts to improve overall performance and identify opportunities for cost reduction and improved care. Finally, on the reputation and communications front, Partners HealthCare will focus on telling stories about the depth and quality of care provided by its doctors, nurses and care teams at member hospitals, to both internal and external audiences. “As the debate on cost and quality continues, it is essential that we communicate a message of our value as a high quality health care system,” Gottlieb said.
Dr. Gottlieb outlines Partners’ vision: BWHPikeNotes.org/about/BWHStrategicPlan/PHSStrategicPlan