Welcome to the Quality Quest blog.  We are excited to enter the blogosphere and share ideas and resources that will help transform healthcare in Illinois.  Quest is a non-profit collaborative that brings together all healthcare stakeholders – patients and families, providers, payers, and employers – to focus on improving the quality of care delivered to patients.  Our blog will feature weekly posts by different contributors from each healthcare stakeholder group.

At Quality Quest, we are committed to advancing a high-quality, patient-centered, and cost-effective healthcare system.  We believe it is critical for community members to work together on shared health-related priorities.  We also believe it is important to engage consumers to take more responsibility for their own health and work as partners with their healthcare providers.

Why Transform Healthcare in Illinois?

The most obvious question staring us in the face is -- why transform healthcare in Illinois?

A state snapshot of how Illinois compares to the other 49 states in performance of our healthcare system leaves something to be desired.  The Commonwealth Fund(www.commonwealthfund.org) issued a State Scorecard in 2009 comparing states on healthcare access, quality, avoidable hospital use and costs, equity, and healthy lives.  Illinois came in at 42 in the overall state ranking. 

In the 2008, a Commonwealth Fund report examined state child healthcare systems.  Illinois was in the bottom quartile based on access, quality, cost, healthy lives, and equity.  Surely, there is room for improvement.

Today’s Realities

Today’s reality for participants in the healthcare arena is important to understand.  Physicians and hospitals compete for available healthcare dollars.  They practice in a fee-for-service production model where doing more is financially rewarded.  Taking time away from patient care to work on quality improvement means lost income.  Health plans and employers faced with rapidly escalating costs focus on reducing short-term costs, which often results in employees having fewer healthcare benefits and providers’ fee schedules being squeezed.  Consumers are taught that more is better and often demand services that bring them no benefit.  Under the status quo, consumers have to navigate a fragmented, complex and confusing system.

A New Vision

Imagine a new healthcare system where . . .

Employers:

• Maintain and enhance their benefits
• See the value they are getting
• Pay for outcomes, not quantity
• Focus on their core business

Physicians:

• Provide input, are heard, and valued
• Have the time they need to care for patients
• Enjoy fewer administrative hassles
• Compete on quality and value

 Patients:

• Have a personal care team
• Are educated and supported when weighing treatment trade-offs
• Are up-to-date on preventive and chronic care
• Have a personal health record

Is such a vision a pipedream?  Absolutely not.  When all healthcare participants work together, we can achieve such a vision.