Institute for Healthcare Improvement: Triple Aim

Seeking Participants for Next Phase of Work

IHI is currently recruiting interested and capable organizations to participate in the next phase of work, which will begin in March 2010 and will run for nine months. We are seeking to engage organizations that have already incorporated Triple Aim thinking into their strategic plans or plan to do so within the next five years, are actively engaged in work that addresses the Triple Aim, and are willing to commit to designating a patient population for additional design focus and testing.

We intend to maintain and build upon the diversity that characterized the first group of Triple Aim prototype sites. Organizations we believe could be well-suited to join the prototyping effort include:

Regional health departments, regions, or authorities
Large hospital-centric integrated delivery systems
Large integrated care systems such as HMOs that encompass both the financing and delivery systems
Large physician group practices
Health plans
Public sector or federally funded health care organizations
Public health departments
Employer-based health systems
Consumer or patient advocacy groups
Community services or community-based health-related services
Innovative care delivery organizations such as pharmacist-run clinics, school-based systems, and housing-based systems
Other organizations with the will and capability to fulfill the Triple Aim

Who Should Participate?

What Current Participants Are Saying About the Triple Aim

Organizations that are well-suited to participate in the Triple Aim prototyping initiative typically have the following characteristics:

The senior executive team sees that the Triple Aim is, or will be, strategic for the organization. The Triple Aim may not be the complete strategic focus today, but it must be strategic for the organization within the next five years.
The organization can clearly define the population that they are caring for now and have a vision for the populations they hope to impact over the next five to ten years.
The organization is willing and able to act as the macro-integrator and can describe how they will do so by: a) Obtaining the entire range of services needed for a population; and b) Organizing the range of services needed.
The organization has a proven track record of executing significant health care improvement and even organizational transformation. They are skilled and agile in using the Model for Improvement or other similar model, running small tests of change, and implementing change on a large scale.
The organization will have the capability to work closely with the micro-integrators who provide primary care to their population.

"The non-profit Primary Care Coalition (PCC) of Montgomery County, Maryland, is developing a comprehensive, integrated, and community-based health care system for 100,000 low-income, uninsured, and ethnically diverse children and adults living in the county. We were members of the Triple Aim initiative Prototype I group and continue to participate in Triple Aim II and in interest groups, including emergency diversion, specialty care, and patient experience. Participation in the Triple Aim initiative has stretched our thinking, exposed us to emerging best practices, and has provided a unifying theory to inform our work. We’ve recently invited all PCC associates to participate in Triple Aim activities and have found it to be the core of our organizational learning initiative."

Steve Galen, CEO
Primary Care Coalition
Montgomery County, Maryland

"At Genesys, our involvement in the IHI Triple Aim collaborative work has augmented the evolution of our population-based care model, which we view as 'leading the transformation of health care by creating a new model of care which is focused on health rather than just disease.' Throughout our work, both within our organization and with community partners, the Triple Aim has helped frame our work and focus outcome discussions on measures that matter in the three realms of health, cost, and experience. The experience of working with the IHI facilitators and other collaborative teams around the nation and around the world has been invaluable. We feel as if we have access to the best minds in the world to explore this new ground and together push the transformation agenda!"

Trissa Torres, Medical Director
Genesys Health System
Flint, Michigan

IHI welcomes expressions of interest from a wide range of health care provider and other health-related organizations. Please contact Nelly Ganesan at IHI to discuss this opportunity further (nganesan@ihi.org; 617-301-4916).