AF4Q: Who We Are, What We Do

Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) is the visionary effort of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to pilot real change in today's complicated health care system. For the past six years, AF4Q has brought together 16 geographically, demographically, and economically diverse communities across the United States behind a common purpose—to create sustainable models for health care transformation. Our ideas and initiatives have led to improvements in how health care is delivered, reductions in racial and ethnic disparities, and increased availability of comparative information. Physicians, hospitals, patients, community advocates, employers, health plans, and policy leaders have come together to:

• Create new and more effective, efficient models for delivering care;
• Publicly report data on quality, cost, and patient experience;
• Improve performance in ambulatory care, usually the front line of health care delivery;
• Empower patients to have an active role in their health and in system transformation; and
• Implement innovative payment models.

Our work has touched the lives of nearly 38 million Americans—nearly 13 percent of the U.S. population—from tackling the management of diabetes to improving access to farm-fresh produce in low-income neighborhoods. No matter the complexity of the initiative or the economic struggles of a location, these communities have shown that bringing together a diverse group of stakeholders can, indeed, improve care and lead to solving some of the most vexing problems facing our health care system.