Foundation Makes 10-Year Commitment to Accelerating the “Triple Aim” through a State-wide Collective Impact Initiative

DENVER, CO – The Colorado Health Foundation announced its support of a 10-year commitment to a community-level collaborative approach to address health care costs through delivery system and payment reform. The approach involves a shared commitment among partners to the same goals and outcomes and a commitment to align their work in order to achieve the greatest collective success. 

This framework is commonly known as collective impact and often involves a centralized infrastructure with a backbone organization steering the work, dedicated staff and a process designed to produce common goals, shared measurement, coordinated and ongoing communication and mutual reinforcement among partner activities. 

In this case, the delivery system and payment reform initiative will focus on accelerating the “Triple Aim” of health care: better health for our population, better care for individuals and lower costs for all. The current effort is working to align delivery system changes and payment reform efforts to achieve these goals. 

”The continual growth of health care costs threatens not only the future of our health care system but of our economy and prosperity here in Colorado,” said Dr. Don Murphy, Medical Director of Medicare Services at Colorado Access and incoming board chair at the Colorado Health Foundation. “While each of the partner organizations within this initiative is carving out an individual role, it is clear that together we will be able to make the lasting, system-wide transformations needed to achieve better stewardship in health care.” 

For the past several years, the Foundation has been investing in organizations whose work is focused on transforming the health care system to achieve improved quality of care, improved value and improved access for all Coloradans. 

In 2013, the Foundation adopted a key strategy within its Health Coverage outcome area that will address health care costs and affordability to ensure coverage expansions are sustained over time. The Foundation also responded to many long-time partners, grantees and other stakeholders involved or interested in a shared approach to reducing health care costs through transforming the way health care is delivered and paid for in Colorado. Through interviews, research and multiple convenings, stakeholders agreed to adopt a collective impact approach. In July 2014, the Foundation’s board approved a 10-year commitment to using a collective approach to delivery system and payment reform. 

The commitment includes multi-year grantmaking opportunities based on a work plan developed by the initiative’s steering committee. Keys to the success of the initiative include ongoing engagement with additional stakeholders that have focused work and an expanding group of funders with aligned interests. 

“We share a belief held within philanthropy that working together helps us all achieve more,” said Anne Warhover, president and CEO of the Colorado Health Foundation. “We do this through investments that provide opportunity for communities and sectors to collaborate, and we also want to explore deeper partnerships that address large-scale social changes. Supporting a collective impact framework will bring together the organizations who want to move the needle in reducing health care costs across Colorado.” 

The initiative involves a work group of Foundation grantees and leaders across the state, including the Center for Improving Value in Health Care, Colorado Business Group on Health, Colorado Coalition for the Medically Underserved, Colorado Health Institute, Colorado Regional Health Information Organization (CORHIO), HealthTeamworks, Quality Health Network, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing and others. 

In 2015, the work group will receive funding to continue the planning process, bring on additional stakeholders and begin to organize their work to transform Colorado’s health care delivery and payment systems. 

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