Seven Foundations Combine Forces to Transform Care Delivery for High-Need Patients

The Center has joined Arnold Ventures, The Commonwealth Fund, The John A. Hartford Foundation, the Milbank Memorial Fund, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and The SCAN Foundation in a collaborative to maximize their individual investments and avoid duplication in efforts to scale and spread promising care models for high-need patients across organizations participating in value-based reimbursement.

These high-need individuals, who are estimated to account for 5 percent of the U.S. population but 50 percent of healthcare spending, typically have multiple conditions that are exacerbated by challenging social needs and a limited ability to care for themselves.

Foundation leaders say this population merits heightened attention both because they have complex—and costly—health and social care needs, and also because they are disproportionately impacted by poor quality care. Moreover, the need for action is urgent because the number of these patients, many of whom are older adults, will increase as America’s population ages.

Together, the Seven Foundations will launch resources intended to help meet three urgent goals:

• Help health system leaders and other stakeholders develop a deep understanding of this diverse population and its needs;
• Identify effective ways to deliver higher-quality, integrated care at a lower cost to this population; and
• Accelerate the spread of these approaches across the nation.

Evidence-based tools and resources are now being curated and will be shared with health system leaders and other stakeholders. The Better Care Playbook, developed by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, represents one step toward this aim, offering insights about patients with complex needs, examples of successful approaches to care, guidance on making the business case for these models, and opportunities for policy and payment reform.