New Case Study Series Focuses on Organized Care Delivery Systems
<p>The Commonwealth Fund's ongoing case study series on organized health care delivery systems illustrates how vastly different systems of care serving diverse populations can improve their performance using common strategies: information continuity, patient engagement, care coordination, team-oriented care delivery, continuous innovation and learning, and convenient access to care. <br><br>In the new <a href="/publications/case-study/2009/jul/organizing-higher-performance-case-studies-organized-delivery">comprehensive overview</a> of findings from the case studies—15 in all—Douglas McCarthy and Kimberly Mueller of Issues Research, Inc., discuss how these organizations have achieved significant improvements in clinical quality of care and control of chronic diseases, higher patient satisfaction, shorter waiting times, and reductions in hospitalizations, emergency visits, and prescription drug expenses. The first nine organizations profiled in the series include: </p>
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<a href="/publications/case-study/2009/jun/community-care-north-carolina-building-community-systems-care">Community Care of North Carolina</a>, a public–private partnership that provides key components of a medical home and care management to nearly 1 million low-income individuals; </li>
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<a href="/publications/fund-reports/2007/jul/denver-health-high-performance-public-health-care-system">Denver Health</a>, an integrated health system and Colorado's largest safety-net provider; </li>
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<a href="/publications/case-study/2009/jun/geisinger-health-system-achieving-potential-system-integration">Geisinger Health System</a>, a nonprofit, physician-led integrated system serving 43 counties in Pennsylvania; </li>
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Group Health Cooperative, a consumer-governed, nonprofit integrated financing and delivery system in Washington State and Idaho; </li>
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<a href="/publications/case-study/2009/jun/healthpartners-consumer-focused-mission-and-collaborative-approach">HealthPartners</a>, a family of nonprofit, consumer-governed, integrated care organizations spanning five Midwestern states; </li>
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<a href="/publications/case-study/2009/mar/hill-physicians-medical-group-independent-physicians-working">Hill Physicians Medical Group</a>, the nation's largest independent practice association; </li>
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<a href="/publications/case-study/2009/jun/kaiser-permanente-bridging-quality-divide-integrated-practice">Kaiser Permanente</a>, the largest not-for-profit integrated delivery system in the United States; </li>
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<a href="/publications/fund-reports/2008/oct/new-york-city-health-and-hospitals-corporation-transforming">New York City Health and Hospitals Corporation</a>, the largest municipal health care system in the country; and </li>
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<a href="/publications/fund-reports/2008/may/north-dakota-experience-achieving-high-performance-health-care">North Dakota's MeritCare Health System and Rural Cooperative Networks</a>, which together provide residents of this largely rural state with accessible, effective, and efficient care. <br></li>
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<p>The experience of the case study sites adds to a body of research documenting how diverse types of integration of providers and services—in combination with effective leadership, aligned incentives, and a supportive organizational mission and culture—facilitate high-functioning local health care delivery. Findings from the case study series support recommendations by The Commonwealth Fund Commission on a High Performance Health System to stimulate greater organization of health care in the U.S. <br><br>Be sure to visit <a href="/~/media/110d559fdea542ea9c1c8a5df7e70ef9.ashx">commonwealthfund.org</a> regularly in the coming weeks for additional case studies of organized delivery systems included in the series and discussed in the report issued today, including: Henry Ford Health System, Intermountain Healthcare, Marshfield Clinic, Mayo Clinic, Partners HealthCare, and Scott & White Healthcare. <br><br></p>