Azar outlines plans to give patients control over health data through HIT; push transparency from providers and payers; test value-based models in Medicare and Medicaid; and remove government burdens that impede the transformation.
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex M. Azar II on Friday offered gushing praise for the work of community health centers and outlined the key role they would play in transforming healthcare to a patient-centered, value-based model under the Trump administration.
"We see you not just as vital partners in our movement toward a health system that delivers quality, affordable care for all Americans—we see you as pioneers in this value effort already," Azar told a gathering of the National Association of Community Health Centers.
Azar noted the rapidly expanding care delivery role for community health centers, with saw the number of patients served increase from 10.3 million in 2001 to 25.9 million in 2016, an increase of 151%.
That growth correlates with the Trump administration’s priorities for HHS, Azar said.
"One of these priorities is transforming our health system into one that pays for health and outcomes rather than procedures and sickness," he said.
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Noting that the road to value-based "has been at time a frustrating process" replete with failures, Azar said there can be "no turning back to an unsustainable system that pays for procedures rather than value."
"In fact, the only option is to charge forward — for HHS to take more aggressive action, and for providers, payers, and patients to join with us," he said.
With that in mind, Azar said providers can expect to see "bold new rules of the road" from the Trump administration that will include four areas of emphasis.
"First, giving patients greater control over health data through interoperable and accessible health information technology," he said. "Second, encouraging transparency from providers and payers; third, using experimental models in Medicare and Medicaid to drive value and quality throughout the entire system; and fourth, removing government burdens that impede this transformation."
Azar said community health center are easily outstripping most private physician groups and hospitals when it comes to price transparency.
"Try calling up a major physician group to ask how much a self-pay patient might owe for a typical physical, I have two words for you: Good luck," he said. "Walk into or call up a community health center and ask the same question. The answer is often one word: the price—plus, of course, the assurance that what you actually owe will be based on income."
"This level of transparency is essential to have across our entire system," Azar said. "When it comes to bigger medical procedures, just about all Americans are looking at significant financial decisions—and yet information about these big decisions can be incredibly hard to come by."
Azar said EHRs have provided patients with some access to their own personal health records, but they haven’t gone far enough.
"It's not just that the benefits of health IT haven't always been apparent to patients — it's that unless we put this information and technology in the hands of patients themselves, the real benefits will never arrive," he said.
"We're not interested in micromanaging how the goals of interoperability and patient usability are achieved. We are much more interested in setting out simple goals: Patients ought to have control of their records in a useful format, period," he said. "When they arrive at a new provider, they should have a way of bringing their records, period. That's interoperability—the what, not the how."
John Commins is a content specialist and online news editor for HealthLeaders, a Simplify Compliance brand.