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Leapfrog Applauds Minnesota’s Value-Based Healthcare Purchasing Initiative

On August 30, The Leapfrog Group sent Minnesota's governor, Tim Pawlenty, a letter commending the state’s newly announced value-based health care purchasing initiative, QCare. QCare incorporates the use of standardized measures and creates statewide goals to meet certain measurement benchmarks. Read the full letter below. Since Leapfrog’s inception, we have worked to encourage our members to embrace certain value-based purchasing principles.  Minnesota has been consistently one of the first movers to embrace our principles, and with the introduction of QCare, it has once again proven itself as a leader.

Dear Governor Pawlenty:

The Leapfrog Group would like to applaud your newly announced value-based health care purchasing initiative, QCare. We thank you for factoring in Leapfrog and the work that the Buyer's Health Care Action Group (BHCAG) has done in your state to advance Leapfrog since 2001.

Leapfrog, as a national organization of mostly large private employers and employer coalitions, has encouraged public employers from the beginning to embrace our value-based purchasing principles. Some have, but Minnesota public employers have always been ahead of the curve in adhering to our principles. As a result of the cooperative health care purchasing environment in Minnesota, a lot of progress has already been made including the creation of the Smart Buy Alliance.

QCare's commitment to use standardized measures and to create statewide goals to meet certain measurement benchmarks is important and unique. We view this as an innovative best practice, and frankly, a practice that we hope will be replicated by governors and public purchasers in other states. Thank you for setting a great example and for aiming high.

Sincerely,

Suzanne Delbanco, MPH, Ph.D.

CEO, The Leapfrog Group

[8/06]