Schwimmer Script Blog
Exclusive Look at Rising Health Care Spending in New Jersey
Not long ago, I was reading Niall Brennan’s testimony to a U.S. Senate committee. You may recall that Niall was our keynote speaker at last year’s Winter Conference, and we called him a “truth teller” for his powerful insight and data on rising health care costs. Niall, President and CEO of the Health Care Cost…Read More…
Scoring Payment Reform in the Garden State
Two numbers struck me after reading Catalyst for Payment Reform’s New Jersey Scorecard: 80 and 20. In our state’s commercial market, the share of total dollars paid to specialists (outpatient and inpatient) is 80 percent compared with just 20 percent to primary care providers. The national figures are only slightly better: 75 and 25 percent….Read More…
New Staffers Strengthen Quality Institute’s Mission
At the Quality Institute, three new policy staff members with impressive real-world experience have joined our mission to drive health care quality, access, and affordability. Their backgrounds in government, administration, hospitals, and finance will strengthen our impact in New Jersey. I’m excited to introduce them to you. First, let me tell you about Amanda R. Burd,…Read More…
Connect Quality and Payment to Create Lasting Improvement to Maternity Care
Every day Maternity Care is in the news, as interest and focus on this topic continually grows. In our state, the Murphy administration and others are investing in improving maternal and child health. With so many different grants, quality collaboratives, and competing priorities we need an effective path forward to create sustainable change. That’s why…Read More…
Don’t Backtrack on Transparency
We turn to the Internet to help us make all kinds of decisions — especially in health care. And we’ve come a long way in our ability to obtain consumer friendly and accessible information on hospital safety and quality. Moreover, based on research by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and other respected…Read More…
Quality Institute Unveils Plan to Improve End-of-Life Care in New Jersey
My father-in-law is 92 and my mother in-law is 86. Both are active and healthy. Not long ago, our Conversation of Your Life (COYL) program sponsored an event near their home in Fort Lee and I asked them to join me. We had dinner first and my mother-in-law, who has a keen sense of humor,…Read More…
A Tale of Two Gymnasiums
Last week I traveled to the gymnasium at the Woodbridge Community Center to see Gov. Phil Murphy sign legislation to protect consumers from surprise out-of-network billing. During the bill signing, Murphy recalled a campaign-season dinner with Sen. Joseph Vitale at the nearby Reo Diner, where Murphy promised to sign an out-of-network bill if the legislature…Read More…
Changing the Culture Around End-of-Life Care
I hope you all can join us June 12 for our Conversation of Your Life (“COYL”) Breakfast, which will highlight the innovative efforts taking place in New Jersey communities to change the culture around end-of-life care discussions. Leaders in our COYL program will talk about the truly interesting ways they are facilitating these conversations. Here…Read More…
Leveraging Purchasing Power To Drive Change
We’re sharing our exclusive interview here with Carole Johnson, New Jersey’s new Commissioner of Human Services, as she outlines her vision to strengthen the state’s Medicaid program for today — and tomorrow. At the Quality Institute, we often talk about the power of purchasers to drive innovation to improve quality and reduce costs. As we move…Read More…
Measuring the Impact of Payment Reform
At the Quality Institute, we believe payment reform can drive quality and reduce costs — and help make sure we only pay for health care that’s truly valuable to patients. We’re working hard with our partners to collect data and measure quality as we drive alternative payment models that move us away from fee-for-service. Are our…Read More…