Dr. Richard Merkin Provides Gift to Fund the Dr. Richard Merkin Initiative on Payment Reform and Clinical Leadership at The Brookings Institution

MARINA DEL REY, Calif., Dec. 15, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Richard Merkin, President and CEO of Heritage Provider Network, is pleased to announce that his foundation has provided a gift to The Brookings Institution in Washington DC, to fund the Dr. Richard Merkin Initiative on Payment Reform and Clinical Leadership at the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings.  The donation will support two full time scholars who will study ways we can reform the health care payment system, as well as how to increase the leadership skills of clinicians.

"Real health care reform requires clinician leadership and this new initiative will bring together clinical expertise and the potential for policy impact," said Dr. Mark McClellan, Director of the Engelberg Center and Leonard D. Schaeffer Chair in Health Policy Studies, and the former Administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

The initiative was announced during a forum held by the Engelberg Center entitled, "Advancing Health Care Payment and Delivery Reform through Clinical Leadership."  Congressional leaders including Rep Michael C. Burgess (R-Texas) and Rep Allyson Y. Schwartz (D-Pa.) discussed important health care legislation.  Dr. Richard Baron and Dr. Patrick Conway from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) described new CMS initiatives that provide important new opportunities for clinical leadership.

In explaining the initiative, Dr. Merkin said, "I have dedicated my life to transforming our health care system.  During that time, I have found that there are many ways to help physicians improve patient care. Today's challenges, however, require looking at how we can deliver and pay for health care in an entirely new and different way."  Dr. Merkin continued, "As we all know, navigating the rough waters of change requires effective leadership.  And, dramatic change, such as that required in health care, requires exceptional leadership.  We must increase the number of truly effective clinical leaders and change agents."

Dr. Merkin also believes that payment reform is necessary to ensure the continued excellence of the U.S. health care system.  "The current payment system has created a host of problems, from a shortage of primary care physicians, to the creation of incentives that in the long run do not benefit patients.   I believe it is critical to address both clinical leadership and payment reform together, as only in that manner will we be able to achieve truly transformative change.  Perhaps it is time we started thinking about health care and its payment system as a behavioral economics problem.  I believe this initiative will allow us to do so."

Finally, Dr. Merkin discussed why he chose The Brookings Institution as the site of initiative.  "When one reflects on those 'think tanks' that have the ability to help achieve rational, transformative change, one thinks of The Brookings Institution.  Brookings is the right place, and now is the right time, for an initiative on clinical leadership and payment reform."

About Dr. Merkin: 

Dr. Merkin is the founder of the Heritage Provider Network, which he began over 30 years ago.  Today, Heritage is the largest IPA in the State of California, serving members in seven counties throughout Southern California, as well as New York and Arizona.  Heritage provides medical care to over 700,000 patients, and employs over 3,500 individuals.  Its medical network is comprised of over 3,000 primary care physicians, 30,000 specialty physicians and over 100 contracted hospital partners.  In addition to founding Heritage, Dr. Merkin is a member of the Board of Trustees of the California Institute of Technology and the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California, has funded medical research foundations at the Broad Institute at MIT and Harvard University, Johns Hopkins and UCLA, and is also involved in a myriad of other charitable and community activities involving health care and education.  In 2011, Dr. Merkin established the Heritage Health Prize, a health care predictive modeling competition.

SOURCE Heritage Provider Network, Inc.