Expert Opinion: The road to health care reform

New York state’s health care providers are in the midst of tremendous reform, changing the way they deliver care to achieve the “triple aim” of improving population health, enhancing the quality of patient care and reducing the per capita cost of health care.

The health care payment and delivery system is shifting from volume to value due to a variety of forces including insurance marketplace trends, empowered consumers, technology and government.

As we move toward this population health-based system, health care providers are actively redesigning their care delivery systems to deliver patient-centric, coordinated services efficiently across the continuum of care. 

From integrating patient care to participating in new collaborations, hospitals and health systems are partnering in new ways to help meet the monumental task of keeping their communities healthy.

As part of this effort, our members are hard at work implementing projects to keep Medicaid beneficiaries healthy across the state via the Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment program. We are moving forward on value-based payment systems to support this ongoing work in Medicaid. We also continue to work on the State Health Innovation Plan to ensure that an appropriate balance is struck and government efforts do not stifle the innovation and significant work that has and continues to happen organically.

We support system transformation to achieve the triple aim and appreciate the state’s efforts to help providers access the resources they need. However, providers still face many financial, workforce and technological challenges. HANYS will continue to advocate for much-needed resources to enable transformation statewide. As this critical work continues, it is essential to understand the breadth of transformation underway and evaluate the capacity for the system to absorb more.

In the upcoming state budget and legislative session, HANYS will continue to push for funding to maintain a stable health care system. We will voice our opposition to harmful proposals like one-size- fits-all staffing ratios and piecemeal medical malpractice reform. We will also continue our push for significant regulatory reform to modernize our antiquated and outdated system, make necessary improvements and ensure regulatory barriers do not impede innovation.

We look forward to continuing our partnership with the governor and Legislature to ensure a successful transition to the new world of health care. 

Dennis P. Whalen is president of the Healthcare Association of New York State.