The North Carolina Chamber Foundation remains focused on making North Carolina a top ten state for health care value. A critical component of seeing our coordinated and comprehensive approach through to fruition is our discussions with key stakeholders along the health care supply chain. These discussions will ensure that the goals of both the business community and medical providers are aligned to increase value by creating better outcomes with predictable costs. Last Thursday, I spoke at the North Carolina Medical Society’s NC Population Health Collaborative meeting. The audience included many health care providers who are integral to the health care supply chain. The message was consistent – collaboration and driving towards value are the most important elements to improving health care in North Carolina.

North Carolina’s business community is the number one purchaser of health care in the state, whether it is through premiums, self-insurers or state and federal taxes. During the meeting, I made it clear that the business community no longer intends to sit back and wait but instead, is eager to engage in finding solutions. Working hand in hand with key stakeholders will help reach a shared vision for the true value of health care, creating a mutually-beneficial system. It was also encouraging to hear about some of their work towards our shared goal of increasing health care value for North Carolinians.

We will continue to follow the framework outlined in The Roadmap to Value-Driven Health by meeting with stakeholders and executing our plan. We look forward to continuing our work with business leaders to discuss health care. If you are interested in finding out how you can be involved or would like to have a Chamber staff member come speak to your organization, contact Policy Development Manager Cassi Zumbiel at czumbiel@ncchamber.net. If you are interested in hearing more about our health care efforts, follow me on Twitter at @GSalamido and use the hashtag #ValueDrivenHealthNC.