Research staff will examine the pioneering Delivery System Reform Incentive Payments program The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research has been selected to evaluate a pioneering new program to fundamentally change the way hospitals provide care and do business in California. The state's new Delivery System Reform Incentive Payments program (Incentive Program) will for the first time base federal and state compensation to hospitals not just on the number of patients seen but on the quality of the care provided, including whether a patient's health improves over the long term. This "pay-for-performance" model is being piloted nationwide as part of a federally-supported effort to improve care and contain costs, with California being one of the first states to implement a federally-funded, $3.4 billion, 5-year demonstration project within its 21 public hospitals system. "This is one of the most ambitious efforts ever pioneered in California to fundamentally change hearts and minds about how care is provided," said Nadereh Pourat, the Center's director of research, who will lead the evaluation team. "All eyes will be on California to see whether our hospitals can foster the kind of innovative and cost-effective care that is essential to the success of health care reform." In order to document key lessons learned, the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research received a grant from the Blue Shield of California Foundation to evaluate the Incentive Program. The Center's evaluation is also supported by the California Department of Health Care Services. The Center's Health Economics and Evaluation Research (HEER) Program will specifically examine the strategies and innovations piloted by hospitals in order to expand upon and make systematic recent quality improvement initiatives, such as new and better health information technology (including telemedicine), disease registries to track a patient's care throughout the treatment process, expanded follow-up to reduce readmission rates, as well as preventive health outreach to nearby communities. These and other large-scale efforts embody the principles of health care reform - expanding access to care, enhancing quality, improving population health and containing costs.
"The evaluation grant recognizes the Center's prominence as an evaluator of some of the largest and most complex state and federal health care initiatives," said Gerald Kominski, the Center's director. "As millions of Californians gain health insurance in the next year, the Center's expertise will be critical to hospitals, policymakers and others interested in understanding how best to deliver quality care." The Incentive Program evaluation will be led by Pourat, Kominski, as well as Dylan Roby, who directs the Center's HEER Program, Ying-Ying Meng, a Center senior researcher, Jack Needleman, a Center faculty associate; and Arleen Leibowitz, an emeritus professor in the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs. Kominski, Pourat and Needleman are professors and Roby an assistant professor in the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health.
About the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research
The UCLA Center for Health Policy Research (CHPR) is one of the nation’s leading health policy research centers and the premier source of health policy information for California. UCLA CHPR improves the public’s health through high quality, objective, and evidence-based research and data that informs effective policymaking. UCLA CHPR is the home of the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS) and is part of the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health. For more information, visit healthpolicy.ucla.edu.