Peter V. Lee Testifies at Senate Finance Committee and US House Committee on Ways and Means

Dramatic and valuable innovations in service delivery and product innovation have been made throughout the industries and organizations represented by PBGH Members.  Now is the time to reward improved health outcomes, innovation and efficiency in health care.  At the April 21st Roundtable to Discuss Reforming America's Health Delivery System, PBGH Executive Director for National Health Policy, Peter V. Lee highlighted five policy approaches:

• Improving transparency in provider performance and the comparative effectiveness of treatments, drugs and devices;
• Establishing an infrastructure to support the efficient collection and sharing of quality and performance information;
• Structuring payments to reward higher value and provide consistent incentives across both public and private sector payors;
• Engaging patients with information and incentives to make the best decisions;
• Incorporating the perspectives of purchasers, consumers and providers policy and governance processes.

Lee also addressed the June 24th US House Committee on Ways and Means hearings on Health Reform in the 21st Century. In his testimony, he called for actions that promote value by:

• Reducing costs to create a sustainable health care system - not merely shift costs to the private sector;
• Creating a more competitive and affordable insurance marketplace for individuals and small business;
• Supporting investments in wellness and prevention; and
• Expanding a national commitment to comparative effectiveness research so that decisions about care are driven by the evidence and what is in the patient's interest.

PBGH Promotes Comparative Effectiveness Research

PBGH CEO David Lansky testified at the Federal Coordinating Committee for Comparative Effectiveness Research (CER), citing a central goal to improve health care decision-making and planning. Too many therapies have value for some but are applied to many, without regard to the relative value and risk associated with the broad use of these treatments. Dr. Lansky called for a national information infrastructure that is federated, standardized, integrated, and rich in feedback.

Purchasers believe the following principles should guide CER:

1. The criteria for defining CER subject areas and priorities should be clearly articulated and patient-centered with consideration of the current variation in care, the magnitude of potential differences in patient outcomes based on alternative treatments, the absence of an existing evidence base for treatment, the amount of expenditures for alternative interventions.  CER investments should be focused on topics with the highest potential to help assure that all patients receive the right care at the right time, every time.
2. CER should support better care delivery, improved care decision-making by both patients and clinicians, as well as to inform public and private policy making.
3. CER should support standardized measurement of clinical outcomes, functional status and quality of life, patient experience, impact on health system utilization, episode of care costs and disparities across all patient populations, providers, and practice settings.
4. The Federal government should establish transparent and open processes that assure CER is answering important and appropriate questions, is doing so with the right methodologies and scope, leverages international and private sector experience, and coordinated among public and private entities.
5. CER needs to be relevant to users: patients, clinicians, researchers and purchasers.  The design of CER must support and inform patient-clinician decision-making, inform clinical practice guidelines as well as coverage and reimbursement strategies, such as value-based insurance design and performance-based payment.
6. CER must address the resources required to deliver various therapies so that consumers can evaluate quality and costs.
   

See PBGH Spotlight Archives

PBGH Spotlight is published by Pacific Business Group on Health 221 Main Street Suite 1500 San Francisco, CA 94105 phone: 415.281.8660 For more info, contact info@pbgh.org www.pbgh.org © 2009 PBGH