Georgia Right to Know Project
The individual’s Right to Know the true price and quality of healthcare is an important precondition to improving the performance of the American health system. Whenever the American economy has provided consumers with knowledge of a good’s price and quality, the market has responded by delivering goods of higher quality and lower cost. If we wish the same from our health care system – higher quality outcomes at lower cost – then we must not only restore to individuals the right to make decisions regarding their own care, but also empower them to make wise decisions by equipping them with price and quality information.
Right to Know Georgia Initiatives
The state of Georgia is making remarkable progress in providing access to information on the price and quality of healthcare in Georgia.
Health IT & Transparency Board
On October 17, 2006, Governor Sonny Perdue issued an executive order creating the Health Information Technology and Transparency (HITT) Advisory Board. The Board advises the Department of Community Health (DCH) on the best practices for encouraging the use of electronic health records and establishing a statewide strategy to enable health information to be readily available and transparent. DCH broad goals for HIT in Georgia are to enable the understandable, universal, timely and secure communication of health information across the public and private sectors for the benefit of today's health care consumer.
On November 17, 2006, the HITT & Transparency Board met for the first time. CHT CEO Nancy Desmond and Project Director Laura Linn addressed the board on health transformation. Dr. Rhonda Medows charged the board with the following: Developing and implementing a statewide health information exchange; creating a pilot program that will be presented to the Georgia General Assembly during the upcoming 2007 session; and helping develop and implement a web-based health transparency site that will give consumers information on cost of care and health quality.
Newt addressed the board on December 12, 2006. Recognizing the work of Dr. Medows and the board, Newt encouraged the review of current solutions such as myFloridaRx.com , FloridacompareCare.gov, and the Georgia Hospital Association as the board works to provide the tools that Georgians need to make the best health and healthcare decisions.
HHS 4 Cornerstone Event- February 12, 2007
Newt Gingrich accepts the Community Leader distinction on behalf of the Center for Health Transformation (2/12/2007)
(Front row, L-R: Sec. Michael Leavitt and Newt Gingrich. Back row, L-R: Gov. Sonny Perdue; George Israel, Georgia Chamber of Commerce; Glenn Pearson, Georgia Hospital Association; Dennis White, Georgia Medical Care Foundation; Cynthia McCague, Coca-Cola Co.; Allen Hill, UPS; Sylvia Anderson, AT&T; and Marsha Burke, WellStar Health System)
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt designated the Center for Health Transformation as Georgia’s “Community Leader for Value-Driven Healthcare.” The Community Leader distinction is awarded to an organization who leads collaborative, coalition-building efforts to create value-driven healthcare within a state or region. 
The honor was presented to the Center at an event held at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where CHT Founder Newt Gingrich joined Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue in pledging their support for Secretary Leavitt’s national “Four Cornerstones” initiative to improve healthcare quality, information and cost-effectiveness for employees and their families.
“This is a landmark day for health transformation,” said Gingrich, who accepted the Community Leader distinction on behalf of the Center.
The “Community Leaders for Value-Driven Healthcare” distinction was created to designate organizations to serve as the primary coalition-builder to advance health transformation in states. The designated organizations will be at the forefront of continuing to bring together leaders at the local and regional level to achieve the “four cornerstones” of value-driven healthcare: interoperable health information technology; transparency of price information; transparency of quality information; and the use of incentives to promote high-quality and cost-efficient healthcare. Nancy Desmond, CEO of the Center for Health Transformation, said, “We applaud the leadership exhibited by Secretary Leavitt and Governor Perdue in creating a system of better health and lower costs – a system focused on value-based competition. We are honored to be named as the Community Partner in Georgia in an initiative that we believe will save thousands of lives and millions of dollars.”
CHT is one of only four prestigious organizations recognized by the Department of Health and Human Services as Community Leaders: the Puget Sound Health Alliance, the Greater Detroit Area Health Council, and the Cleveland Health Action Council. The Department’s recognition of Community Leaders represents an integral step in the work to build a national network of regional organizations that bring together local stakeholders to improve healthcare and control costs.
"What you are seeing here today is part of an ongoing process, led across the country by Secretary Leavitt and led here in Georgia by Governor Perdue,” Speaker Gingrich said. “It is practical, it is doable, and, with the leadership by both providers – the Georgia Hospital Association, the Medical Association of Georgia and others – and by the employers – the people who are still today the primary payers – we believe that it is possible for this transformation to occur. And because of the hard work of the many stakeholders involved in this collaborative effort, it will occur much faster than politicians think and much faster than the news media think.”
