Please join MHMC in welcoming Nancy Morris, the new Communications and Member Relations Manager.
MHMC Now Hiring
MHMC is looking for a new team member to fill the role of part-time Pathways to Excellence Program Administrator. Attention to detail is a key requirement and we are also looking for someone who is organized to help manage this important initiative that can literally change people's lives for the better.
Please read the attached job description for more information. Interested candidates can send a resume to Sue Butts-Dion, PTE Program Leader, at
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. Click on the following link for more detailed information on the position. MHMC Program Administrator Position 01.10
The Maine Health Management Coalition office has relocated to 245 Commercial Street, Suite 202, Portland, ME 04101. The phone number is 207-899-1971, and the fax is 207-899-3207.
Value Based Purchasing
The Maine Health Management Coalition supports its members’ efforts to implement Value Based Purchasing strategies. Value based purchasing is:
The common strategy coalitions across the country are promoting and deploying to reform the healthcare system, community by community.
A demand side strategy, involving the actions of coalitions, employer purchasers, public sector purchasers (e.g. Medicare and Medicaid), health plan payers, and individual consumers, to reward excellence in health care delivery. Rewards can take three dominant forms:
Enhanced reputation and recognition through public reporting
Enhanced payment through differential reimbursement
Enhanced market share through purchaser, payer, and/or individual consumer selection
Value based purchasing is not:
The supply side strategy of continuous quality improvement espoused by the Institute of Medicine in Crossing the Quality Chasm.
Value based purchasing is a critical external motivator in establishing a business case for why providers of care should embrace, lead, and implement the reengineering of healthcare delivery.
According to the National Business Coalition on Health and DHHS, the four pillars of Value Based Purchasing must be present in a market to allow employers to implement a Value Based Purchasing strategy. The four pillars of Value Based Purchasing are:
Pillar One: Standardized Performance Measurement
Standardized performance measurement is the foundation upon which value based purchasing rests. There is no capacity to reward excellence in healthcare without first measuring performance.
Pillar Two: Transparency and Public Reporting
Standardized performance measures need to be converted into useful information for purchasers, payers, and consumers to inform their decision making, particularly for payment and choice. Research also demonstrates that public reporting can be a significant external motivator for supply side performance improvement, given the importance of community reputation.
Pillar Three: Payment Reform
There are two critical aspects of payment reform:
The principle of differential reimbursement based on demonstrated performance;
The need to redesign payment methodology to better align economic incentives with desired outcomes.
Both elements of payment reform are needed and complementary.
Pillar Four: Informed Choice
The challenge here is to encourage demand side participants to choose better performance at all levels of the healthcare system, thus rewarding producers of care with increased market share.
Payment Reform Symposium Presentations Available
Thank you to all who attended MHMC's 2009 Symposium - Reformed Payment for a Reformed System: Better Health for Our Healthcare Dollar on October 8, 2009. Speakers' presentations are available. Click here.
