The Commission will be updating the Scorecard on a periodic basis, allowing it to monitor changes in system performance—positive or negative—over time. Results from the Scorecard, as well as the public survey, will inform the work of the Commission as it formulates recommendations for policy options. In early 2007, the Commission is set to release a major Fund-authored analysis of health reform bills in Congress; its findings should be highly useful to policy officials as they deliberate and to the Commission as it formulates specific recommendations for legislative action.
The Commission on a High Performance Health System convenes three times a year. The March 2006 meeting, held in Denver, featured a site visit to Denver Health, an integrated health system for which Commission member Patricia Gabow, M.D., serves as CEO and medical director. The visit allowed Commissioners to witness firsthand Denver Health's innovative approaches to health care delivery for a patient population with complex needs.
The Washington-based Alliance for Health Reform, co-chaired by U.S. Senators Jay Rockefeller (D–W. Va.) and Susan Collins (R–Maine), has received grants from the Fund to manage the Commission meetings and co-sponsor Washington policy briefings, roundtable discussions, and a bipartisan congressional retreat, which provides members from both parties a unique opportunity for off-the-record discussion of pressing health policy issues. In 2006, Commission members played a key role in developing the retreat agenda, and several served as panelists and moderators. Session topics included: characteristics of high performance health systems, health spending, Medicare, incentives to improve quality, health care polls, Medicaid, strategies for insuring workers, and lessons from abroad.
(5)The Alliance also helps coordinate Fund-sponsored briefings and roundtables on Capitol Hill. In 2006, these events focused on topics ranging from health services for children to implementation of the Medicare prescription drug benefit.
The Commission on a High Performance Health System is chaired by Fund board member James J. Mongan, M.D., president and CEO of Partners HealthCare System, Inc. A listing of Commission members and staff is available below.
