Acting Secretary of Health Dr. Karen Murphy Joins Industry Leaders at White House Health Innovation Kick-off

HARRISBURG, Pa., March 25, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Pennsylvania Department of Health Acting Secretary Dr. Karen Murphy represented the commonwealth today at a White House meeting to kick off the Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network (Network). Pennsylvania was one of only six states to participate in the inaugural meeting. President Obama and HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell addressed private sector leaders, state representatives, insurers, providers, business leaders and consumers to promote health care delivery and payment innovations.

"The Wolf Administration is committed to transforming Pennsylvania's health care and improving the health and the quality of health care at a lower cost to our residents," said Acting Secretary Murphy. "Today, we joined others across the nation to develop a plan to transition the current volume-based fee-for-service system to one that incentivizes all providers to be reimbursed on a system that pays for value. Pennsylvania is committed to working together with our hospitals, physicians and private payers to develop innovative delivery and payment models to ensuring better health care outcomes across the commonwealth."

The Network will provide a forum for public-private partnerships to identify strategies to accelerate the transition of the U.S. health care payment system to a value-based system for payments that will meet or exceed recently established Medicare goals. Currently, providers are paid based on the quantity of care they provide for patients - for each test, procedure, or doctor's visit. This model inadvertently incentivizes additional and potentially unnecessary procedures.

The Affordable Care Act created a number of alternative payment models to encourage providers to coordinate care to achieve better outcomes for patients at a lower cost. The Network will promote this goal and serve as a forum where state governments, payers, providers, employers, purchasers, states, consumer groups, individual consumers, and others can discuss, track, and share best practices on how to transition towards alternative payment models that are based on value versus volume.

For more information, including how organizations and partners can participate in the Network, please visit innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/Health-Care-Payment-Learning-and-Action-Network/.

Media contact: Holli Senior, DOH, 717-787-1783      

SOURCE Pennsylvania Department of Health

Related Links

http://www.state.pa.us