Project Mission The State Transformation Project is an opportunity for states to develop new transformational approaches to health and healthcare in three areas:

Jim Frogue Project Director

• The state as provider of health and healthcare for the poor, via Medicaid and other assistance programs;
• The state as an employer, paying for healthcare among state employees, university and school system employees and local government employees (collectively often the largest purchaser of healthcare in the state);
• The state as a community, with community-wide interests in the better health and healthcare for its residents.

The State Transformation Project works with governors and key state-level appointees to develop a transformational approach to health and healthcare in all three areas. The project unites government, employers, key vendors, providers and citizens, as better health and healthcare is a matter of interest for all.

To be successful, such a transformation has to include changes in state government policies, in relevant federal policies (including those affecting Medicaid and other programs to help the poor), and in the behavior of providers.

Private payers in participating states will find themselves helped both as a taxpayer (as state governments have to spend less on the health of their citizens) and as a payer in their own right (as the providers they work with operate within more effective systems and as their employees participate in a healthier community).

The State Model of Health Transformation

The State Transformation Project involves the interaction of a coalition of key stakeholders within a state that are networked to similar stakeholders in other participating states.

The rationale behind this approach is that we believe that health and healthcare must be dealt with on a system-wide basis. Fixing small pieces of the system in isolation will not solve the overall problem, but will rather simply shift the strain from one part of the system to another. This project deals with the state both as its own entity and as part of a larger system, allowing for the type of system change that is necessary. By networking among states and with federal decision-makers, we deal with the broader system, which allows the solutions we model to be driven rapidly and widely throughout the system. This allows us to share solutions with a wide array of leaders and gives us a range of both successes and failures from which to learn. Collaboration and the free-flowing exchange of ideas are imperative for the State Transformation Project to succeed.

If you would like to learn more about how to become a member of the State Transformation Project, please contact Jim Frogue at (202) 375-2001 or info@healthtransformation.net.