Pursuing the 'Triple Aim': New Case Studies from The Commonwealth Fund
<p>The Institute for Healthcare Improvement's Triple Aim initiative seeks to help health care organizations achieve three key objectives simultaneously: improve the health of a patient population, enhance patients' experience of care—including quality, access, and reliability—and reduce, or at least control, the per capita cost of care. </p>
<p>A new case study series from The Commonwealth Fund shows in detail how three diverse organizations are transforming how they deliver care in pursuit of the Triple Aim. They include:</p>
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<a href="/publications/case-study/2010/jul/careoregon-transforming-role-medicaid-health-plan-payer-partner">CareOregon</a>, a nonprofit managed health care plan serving low-income Medicaid enrollees; </li>
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<a href="/publications/case-study/2010/jul/genesys-healthworks-pursuing-triple-aim-through-primary-care-based">Genesys Health System</a>, a nonprofit integrated delivery system in Flint, Michigan; and </li>
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<a href="/publications/case-study/2010/jul/quadmed-transforming-employer-sponsored-health-care-through">QuadMed</a>, a Wisconsin-based subsidiary of printer Quad/Graphics that develops and manages worksite health clinics and wellness programs. </li>
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<p>"While easy to understand, the Triple Aim is a challenge to implement," says Douglas McCarthy, coauthor of the case studies and senior research advisor to The Commonwealth Fund. "Physicians and hospitals often focus on acute and specialized care much more than primary and preventive care. They also tend to think narrowly about care for particular conditions or episodes of care for individual patients—without considering the health of a population." </p>
<p>In an <a href="/publications/case-study/2010/jul/triple-aim-journey-improving-population-health-and-patients">overview of the case study series</a>, McCarthy explains that while the three organizations take different paths to the Triple Aim, they are all building strong partnerships with individual care providers and community organizations to evaluate whether resources are being optimally deployed to meet population needs, including improved care coordination, chronic disease management, and preventive health.</p>
<p>As more organizations adopt Triple Aim goals and share their unique approaches to meeting patient needs while controlling costs, the program is likely to yield more innovations that can be extended to a variety of settings, McCarthy says. <br /></p>