Abstract

It is well documented that when compared with 11 industrialized countries in quality of, access to, efficiency of, and equity in health care, and healthy lifestyles, the United States ranks last, despite the cost expenditure per year as a percentage of the gross domestic product.¹ Furthermore, the Institute of Medicine’s landmark publication To Err is Human showed that the US healthcare system also is quite unsafe.² Numerous healthcare policy, legislative, and financing efforts have been under way to change the course of health care in the United States since the Institute of Medicine’s report in 1999. One such effort is led by the nation’s oldest leading healthcare association, the American Medical Association, which has incorporated “improving health outcomes” as part of its three-part strategic focus.³ Another such effort is being brought forth by the nation’s undergraduate and graduate medical education communities to align themselves toward educating and training new physicians to provide safer, more effective, and cost-conscious health care. Finally, the payers of health care are aligning payment models to reflect the movement toward such care. Simply put, everyone and every institution associated with health care within the United States are moving toward a new goal as it relates to providing and paying for health care. So, what exactly is the overall goal? The goal is the triple aim.