Last week, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) launched a new web resource for Beacon communities, which includes summary videos of each community and their key projects.
Beacon is a program to watch, since it represents a set of innovative pilots that are likely to help us determine what IT-enabled interventions really improve quality, safety, and efficiency. Healthcare reform will require numerous IT innovations to support accountable care organizations, medical homes, and new reimbursement strategies that focus on quality rather than quantity.
Although Massachusetts was not selected as a Beacon Community, here's a link to the Greater Boston submission, to give you a sense of the depth of work Beacon Communities must do. The work is so important, that our regional, state, and local efforts are likely to move forward with many aspects of the Beacon proposal, using private funding and other available State and Federal funds.
John,
ReplyDeleteWe (ONC/Beacon Communities) will be developing new open systems of learning and communications with a broader open network of communities and states - like Massachusetts - that are seeking to improve care using IT and the kinds of care delivery innovations supported by IT. We are interested in your ideas and those of your readers to foster an open and effective system of learning that can faciliate large-scale impact. Best,
Aaron McKethan
Beacon Communities