Vision, Mission, Goals and Guiding Principles

Health Care Quality Improvement Strategy

Position Statements

Public Policy and Government Relations

Aligning Forces for Quality

History

Participants

Consumer Representation

Board of Directors

Staff

Driving Directions

Employment

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The Puget Sound Health Alliance was founded as a result of recommendations from the King County Health Advisory Task Force, a broad-based leadership group convened in 2003 by then King County Executive Ron Sims.

The Task Force members included public agencies and private employers, physicians and other providers, scholars and legal, labor and economic experts. They recommended driving down the rate of health care cost growth by improving the value of care provided in the Puget Sound region. This was to be done by measuring, reporting and improving the quality of care and drawing from nationally recognized, evidence-based standards and measures such as those published by the Institute of Medicine.

In its final report, the Task Force recommended “the creation of a regional partnership to provide the leadership necessary to implement an integrated set of system improvement strategies. Such a partnership will serve as the central reference point and leadership body for the health care players that are dedicated to improving health and health care in the Puget Sound region.”

In order to bring about changes in the health system, the Task Force also recommended that “this partnership build on what is known to be effective as the basis for making improvements to the delivery and financing mechanisms at play in the Puget Sound region.”

In 2004, soon after the Task Force finished their work, the Puget Sound Health Alliance was formed as an independent, non-partisan 501(c)3 organization.

In 2006, the Alliance became part of the Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q)program when it received a three-year grant totalling more than $600K. A critical element to the AF4Q quality improvement strategy is measuring the performance of health care providers in a given region according to criteria agreed upon by doctors and other experts.