West Michigan Tackles Payment Reform

On July 27, 2011, the West Michigan Aligning Forces for Quality Alliance brought together approximately 50 people who collectively represented the purchasers, payers, providers and consumers to discuss opportunities for health care payment reform in their community. Mr. Harold Miller, Executive Director of the Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform and President and CEO of the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI), presented an overview of payment reform—why it is needed, as well as several examples of payment mechanisms better constructed to foster both quality improvement and lower costs. His remarks were followed by two presentations of payment reform activities going on within the West Michigan region—one of which is the PROMETHEUS national pilot project. The event participants spent significant time working in small work groups, achieving consensus on a 5-year plan for payment reform in their community. The day ended with report outs and discussion of next steps. The Alliance for Health was given a mandate to work aggressively to further refine and implement the recommendations.