Visit tied to Mayo Health Policy Forum on accountable-care organizations

Flanked by Minnesota Rep. Tim Walz and Wisconsin Rep. Ron Kind, U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius joined a group of health care reform advocates convened by the Mayo Health Policy Center in Rochester on Thursday.

Sebelius used the opportunity to highlight elements of the recently enacted federal health care reform legislation and to encourage high-performing health systems to continue moving forward with health information technology, care redesigns and other projects aimed at improving health care quality while lowering costs. During her remarks, Sebelius acknowledged that expanding health coverage received most of the attention in public discourse about federal reform, but she said "value-based, patient-centered care was the underlying platform" of the legislation.

Lawrence Massa, chief executive officer and president of the Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA), participated in the Mayo Health Policy Center's two-day meeting aimed at developing ways to foster accountable care organizations (ACOs) and other patient-centered, high-value health care delivery models in the context of the new federal laws.

"Our hospitals and health systems, arm-in-arm with our congressional delegation, fought to ensure that the federal reform bill begins to move health care payments from a system that rewards volume to one that rewards value and outcomes," Massa said. "I don't think it is a mere coincidence that Secretary Sebelius chose Minnesota as the venue for expressing her commitment to health care payment and delivery reform."

ACOs are also receiving attention from state policymakers. After holding last week's multi- stakeholder meeting to discuss ways to advance ACOs in Minnesota, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) released materials from the meeting, convened by MDH and the Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS). The materials are available at www.health.state.mn.us/healthreform/announce/ACOmeeting.html.

MHA and several of its members participated in the meeting, including David Moen, M.D., of Minneapolis-based Fairview Health Services, and George Isham, M.D., and Donna Zimmerman, both of Minneapolis-based HealthPartners. They presented information about care coordination and payment reform efforts already under way in Minnesota.

There is no question that Minnesota's hospitals and health systems will play a significant role in the development of ACOs and other reform models, Massa said. For an example, he pointed to national attention that Fairview received from ModernHealthcare for its efforts to adopt new models of care and payment aimed at moving toward an ACO: www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20100518/NEWS/100519936#.

According to Massa, "what remains to be seen is how the public and private sectors can work together to generate the greatest quality improvements and efficiencies while maintaining Minnesota's long-standing commitment to access."

For more information about ACOs, contact Matt Anderson, MHA vice president of regulatory/strategic affairs, at (651) 659-1421.