Aligning Forces for Quality First Annual Meeting and Consumer Engagement Learning Community Meeting

Publication Date: November 2007

Publisher: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

Author(s):

Research Area: Health

Type: Report

Abstract:

In June 2007, the first annual Aligning Forces for Quality: The Regional Market Project (AF4Q) meeting was held in Seattle. The meeting brought together representatives from each of the 14 communities participating in AF4Q as they seek to build a body of knowledge about how local market forces can work together to improve the quality of health care for their residents with chronic illnesses.

The 14 participating communities are each working to align the efforts of health care providers (physicians/physician groups, nurses, clinics), health care purchasers (employers and insurers) and health care consumers (patients) to improve the quality of health care for patients with chronic conditions such as diabetes, asthma, depression and heart disease.

Each community participating in AF4Q is working on:

* Public reporting. Efforts to provide accurate information about physician and physician group performance that can be used by consumers, purchasers and providers to drive improvement.
* Quality improvement. Efforts to develop a sustainable community-wide capability to help providers improve the community's ambulatory and chronic illness care quality.
* Consumer engagement. Efforts to help consumers take an active role in their own care and in the improvement of chronic illness care in their communities.

The AF4Q meeting was followed by a meeting of the Consumer Engagement Learning Community, which focused on strategies around the involvement of consumers in each community's quality improvement work.

This paper summarizes the key themes from each meeting, highlighting the issues grantees are facing, and can expect to face-and the resources and assistance they will have available-as they work on the components of the AF4Q program.