Hawaii Pacific Health joins Premier's Partnership for Care Transformation collaborative

Hawaii Pacific Health has joined the Premier healthcare alliance's PACT™ (Partnership for Care Transformation) collaborative to build the necessary capabilities that are required under the final Medicare shared savings rule. PACT works to eliminate waste, improve quality, and promote health and wellness across the continuum.

"Hawaii Pacific Health is committed to creating and being accountable for a sustainable healthcare system in Hawaii," said the provider's President and CEO, Chuck Sted. "That means transforming healthcare so the people of Hawaii can receive care of the highest quality, with the best customer service, in the most cost-efficient way for generations to come. Joining PACT lets us work closely with other healthcare systems throughout the country who are leaders in innovation. It's a group of pioneering healthcare systems who can learn from each other and ultimately help all of us in our continuous improvement efforts for high-quality care."

As the largest healthcare provider in Hawaii, the nonprofit health system joins 22 other systems in PACT's Implementation collaborative. Implementation Collaborative health systems have demonstrated accountable care readiness by having a physician network, implementing an electronic medical record, working with their local health information exchange and more.

PACT members are gaining the experience needed to establish shared savings agreements with payors, including commercial insurers, provider-sponsored plans, Medicare and Medicaid, employers and the uninsured. In total, there are 450 hospitals, 20,000 physicians and 2 million covered lives across 42 states that are coordinating and integrating care delivery through PACT's Implementation and Readiness Collaboratives.

Premier Performance Partners Senior Vice President Wes Champion said, "For quite some time, our alliance has been working toward the changes called for by the government, including its efforts to develop people-centered coordinated care models, such as those indicated in the final rule. In forming this new model, greater clinical integration and collaboration among doctors, hospitals and other care providers could be achieved, which would foster alignment of accountable care principles across public and private payors. We welcome Hawaii Pacific Health as they work toward better, safer and more convenient care delivered at a lower cost for the benefit of Hawaii residents."

While still evolving, the concept of ACOs generally describes groups of providers who are willing and able to take responsibility for improving the overall health status, care efficiency and experience for a defined population. Ultimately, the new care delivery model represents one of America's best hopes for overcoming fragmentation.

Based on alliance experience in accountable care, many of CMS' provisions in the final shared savings regulations, such as a no-risk option, first dollar savings, waiving the electronic health records requirements for participation, and a phase-in approach for quality measures, make the rule much more attractive to providers. The final rule is already spurring increased interest in participation. However, Premier looks forward to working with CMS to resolve some of the outstanding issues for management and governance, shared savings payments and data sharing with beneficiaries.

Hawaii Pacific Health also participates in Advanced Hospital Care, the nation's first statewide partnership between a health plan and hospitals to measure patient care. The program, which mirrors Premier's QUEST^®: High Performing Hospitals collaborative, brings together Hawaii hospitals to target improvement opportunities, compare themselves against each other and national standards, and carefully measure their progress to high-quality care.