He said the foundation will organize its grantmaking, research and policy analysis into four areas: Healthcare coverage and access, including following the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, and focusing on coverage gaps not addressed by the law; delivery system reform, with an initial focus on vulnerable populations and patients with high healthcare costs; international health policy and practice innovations, with an eventual focus on learning from successful interventions outside the U.S.; and breakthrough innovations, which will look at new ideas that can provide potential positive disruptions to the current healthcare system.
Blumenthal described how this new agenda for a changing health system will preserve the Commonwealth Fund's legacy as a “high-performing philanthropy and change agent.”
In a video on the Commonwealth Fund website, Blumenthal described the nation's healthcare system as “excessively costly” and “inadequate in quality.”
“Every time one of my family members or I am sick, I know that we are taking risks,” he said in the video. “We are entering a system that doesn't function as well as it should.”
Blumenthal, No. 93 on Modern Healthcare's most recent 100 Most Influential People in Healthcare rankings, is the former National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS.
“As the Commonwealth Fund approaches a century of work in enhancing the common good, our new agenda will continue to help move the nation toward a better, more affordable and more equitable healthcare system for all,” Blumenthal said.
Follow Andis Robeznieks on Twitter: @MHARobeznieks
