Institute for Healthcare Improvement: How Do They Do That? Low-Cost, High-Quality Health Care in America

How Do They Do That?™

How Do They Do That?™ is a joint initiative of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, The Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice, the Brigham and Women’s Center for Surgery and Public Health, the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings, and Re>Think Health, an initiative of the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation. Financial support has been provided by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.

Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice

Brigham and Women's Center for Surgery and Public Health

Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings Institution

Re>Think Health, an initiative of the Fannie E. Rippel Foundation

Models of Low-Cost, High-Quality Health Care in America Do Exist

Aims of How Do They Do That?™

The US Congress, the White House, and the American people are currently engaged in an unprecedented discussion and debate about the best way forward for the US health care system, beginning with the pressing needs of insuring all citizens and reforming the system in ways that make universal coverage affordable. As the scenarios most likely to gain support unfold, it remains critical to keep focused on ways to contain costs, improve health, and improve the patient experience with the health care system.

Several American communities are already achieving impressive results for patients, at significantly reduced per capita cost, supported by their culture, careful planning, and a high level of coordination among leading health care institutions (both outpatient and inpatient).

Where are these communities located, and what can the country as a whole learn from them?

On July 21, 2009, four health care improvement experts ― Drs. Donald Berwick, Elliott Fisher, Atul Gawande, and Mark McClellan ― invited health care leaders from a select group of high-performing regions of the US to share their experiences at a gathering in Washington, DC.

Called How Do They Do That?™ Low-Cost, High-Quality Health Care in America, the meeting brought together teams from ten high-performing regions to explore openly the local, regional, and national factors ― including culture, financing, infrastructures, and more ― that underlie the mechanisms for delivering health care in their communities.

The goal for this meeting and subsequent efforts is to build awareness among the public and policy makers that successful models for achieving high-quality care at significantly reduced cost already exist in many regions and in many forms throughout America. With a deeper understanding of how these communities have achieved success, the conditions for better, less costly health care for the country as a whole ― and a reform agenda that will protect, value, and spread best practices ― can be identified.