With increasingly urgent national concerns about the affordability of healthcare, Costs of Care is proud to partner with the High-Value Practice Academic Alliance (HVPAA) to continue the “Costs of Care Affordability Award,” which will be awarded to one abstract submitted to the HVPAA National Conference that we believe shows the most promise in improving patient affordability (the out-of-pocket costs paid by patients).
While decreasing overuse in hospitals and lowering total costs of care remain critically important goals, initiatives primarily aimed at these targets often do not actually translate into improved affordability for our patients. To decrease out-of-pocket costs, we will need to learn different approaches and measurement strategies. The Affordability Award will be presented at the influential HVPAA National Conference, hosted virtually October 2021. The winner will have the opportunity to present their abstract during a plenary session at the conference and will receive a $500 award.
Drs. Lewis, Sharma, Akhtar, Young, and Noticewala’s submission “Addressing Polypharmacy One Pill at a Time” focused on improving documentation of polypharmacy, assessment of therapeutic appropriateness of medications, and identification of polypharmacy on the patient problem list in an outpatient resident clinic. Their standardized, multi-intervention approach led to a significant increase in positive outcomes, specifically a discontinuation of 86 unnecessary medications.
Thoughtful projects designed to focus on polypharmacy, resulting in the discontinuation of unnecessary medications, substantially improves the affordability of care for our patients.
To learn more about their project and how to implement similar initiatives at your institution, please listen as Costs of Care’s Executive Director, Dr. Chris Moriates, hosts members of the Cleveland Clinic team on the Costs of Care InnoVATE™ podcast.
The Steven Schroeder Award for Outstanding Healthcare CEO was created to recognize a hospital and/or health system CEO who has demonstrated courageous and ethical leadership addressing the twin issues of affordability and quality of health care in their community, which is now more important than ever in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. The recipient of this year’s award will again be prominently recognized at The Leapfrog Group’s Annual Meeting, which takes place December 8, 2020 (in a virtual format as a result of the pandemic).
The Student Value Challenge is a call for ideas and projects from health professional students focusing on teaching or implementing high value care.
Winning submissions will get the opportunity to present at a plenary session during the virtual HVPAA National Conference in October, 2022.
The Student Value Challenge is sponsored by Costs of Care, Choosing Wisely STARS (Students and Trainees Advocating for Resource Stewardship), the HVPAA, and the Mount Sinai High Value Care Committee.