HHS head Mike Leavitt is asking employers to commit to a set of four goals which aim to make cost and quality data more accessible to consumers. The goals include adopting health IT standards in order to make health information systems interoperable, increasing quality transparency, increasing pricing transparency, and offering rewards to encourage efficient, high-quality care. HHS has begun to develop specific quality and cost specs for employers to use in implementing the goals. The idea, according to Leavitt, is to have more than 60 percent of the marketplace use these goals as part of their health purchasing criteria by spring of 2007. "This approach is about providing better information for everyone, up and down the health care system," says Leavitt. "Consumers and payers need this information, but physicians and hospitals need it just as much. That's where quality and value improvement will really take place." Meanwhile, the federal health plans have already adopted these goals, on orders from President Bush.

To get more information on HHS's plans:
- read this article [1] in HR.BLR.com
- review the HHS materials [2] on "value-driven healthcare"

Related Articles:
CMS rolls out quality improvement program. Report [3]
Texas kicks off health data transparency effort. Report [4]