Rhode Island Healthcare Cost Trends Project Unites Providers, Payers, Policymakers, and Consumers Around Shared Vision for Improving Healthcare Performance

Feb 6, 2019

Contact: Bryan Fisher
bfisher@messagepartnerspr.com

Funded by the Peterson Center on Healthcare, Unique Collaboration Serves as Model for Data-Driven Healthcare Cost Trend Analysis

NEW YORK (February 6, 2019) — Rhode Island healthcare stakeholders are uniting around a shared vision to leverage healthcare performance data to improve quality and lower costs of care in the state. The Rhode Island Healthcare Cost Trends Project—which represents providers, payers, policymakers, and consumers—has agreed to establish and commit to an annual healthcare cost growth target.

This unique project, made possible through a grant from the Peterson Center on Healthcare, aims to better understand how actionable data insights, analytic tools, state regulatory authority, and stakeholder engagement can drive meaningful, durable changes in healthcare performance.

“This exciting collaboration shows the benefit of bringing everyone to the table with a shared commitment and common goals,” said Jay Want, MD, Executive Director of the Peterson Center on Healthcare. “Rhode Island has taken an important first step in unlocking the power of data to identify opportunities to improve outcomes and lower the cost of care.”

In August 2018, the Peterson Center on Healthcare announced a $550,000 grant to Brown University’s School of Public Health to study healthcare cost trends in Rhode Island, engaging a range of public and private stakeholders with the goal of improving healthcare performance. As a result of this work, the project’s Steering Committee, comprised of 17 Rhode Island healthcare stakeholders, has signed a joint compact committing to containing healthcare spend. In coming months, the Steering Committee will develop a methodology to analyze healthcare spending growth on an annual basis as well as a sustainability plan for the project going forward.

Increasing the transparency of healthcare performance data is a strategic priority for the Peterson Center on Healthcare. The Center has engaged in a range of projects focused on using data to develop a better understanding of the drivers of healthcare spending. The Rhode Island Healthcare Cost Trends Project has the opportunity help create an evidence base and model to foster additional data transparency efforts across the nation.

For more information about the Peterson Center on Healthcare, visit petersonhealthcare.org.

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About the Peterson Center on Healthcare
The Peterson Center on Healthcare is a non-profit organization dedicated to making higher quality, more affordable healthcare a reality for all Americans. The organization is working to transform U.S. healthcare into a high-performance system by finding innovative solutions that improve quality and lower costs, and accelerating their adoption on a national scale. Established by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, the Center collaborates with stakeholders across the healthcare system and engages in grant-making, partnerships, and research.