The National Partnership for Women & Families announced today that it is joining forces with leading health care systems, health insurers and purchasers to launch a powerful new private-sector alliance dedicated to accelerating transformation of the U.S. health care system to value-based business and clinical models aligned with improving outcomes and lowering costs.

As part of the Health Care Transformation Task Force, the National Partnership will work collaboratively with other members, including six of the nation’s top 15 health systems and four of the top 25 health insurers, to support providers and health insurers in their commitment to put 75 percent of their business into value-based arrangements that focus on the “Triple Aim” of better health, better care and lower costs by 2020. The National Partnership will work toward achieving this goal by helping to engage and educate consumers about the benefits of value-based care and by positioning patients and families as co-creators of value-based care delivery models.

“Our goal is clear — to reform our health care system so that it finally delivers the high-quality, coordinated, patient- and family-centered care that families deserve,” said National Partnership President Debra L. Ness. “The Task Force’s deep expertise and stellar leadership can bring key stakeholders together to drive lasting health care transformation. We are proud to join them in this work.”

Ness praised the group’s commitment to aligning the public and private payer systems, noting that the comprehensive, collaborative approach will provide common accountability targets, metrics and incentives, and will allow for true best practice identification. She strongly supports the Task Force’s commitment to patient and family participation and engagement at all levels of the health care system, from point of care and clinical practice transformation, to governance and oversight.

Participants in the Health Care Transformation Task Force provide a critical mass of business, operational and policy expertise to increase the momentum of delivery and payment system reforms. The Task Force’s diverse membership of providers, payers, purchasers and patients, as well as academic and policy leaders, uniquely positions it to offer recommendations to both policymakers and the industry that reflect consensus and can thus gain wide acceptance and use.

“The National Partnership for Women & Families is one of our founding members and an important partner in the Task Force’s work to accelerate the transformation of the U.S. health care system to deliver improved quality and value,” said Richard J. Gilfillan, MD, CEO of Trinity Health, the Task Force’s chairman. “Together, we recognize that now is the time for rapid, measurable change, and we are committed to leading the way.”

The Task Force will develop timely and actionable policy and program design recommendations for the private sector, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Congress and others; new delivery and payment models; and best-practice tools, benchmarks and approaches to implement them. Initial priorities include improving the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) model, developing a common bundled payment framework and improving care for high-cost patients.

The Task Force defines value-based payment arrangements as those that successfully incentivize and hold providers accountable for the total cost, patient experience and quality of care for a population of patients, either across an entire population over the course of a year or during a defined episode that spans multiple sites of care.

To learn more about Health Care Transformation Task Force, see a full list of members and stay up to date on its latest recommendations and reports, visit www.hcttf.org and follow the Task Force on Twitter at @HCTTF.