NEHI’s Health Care Without Walls initiative gathers momentum

Effort reflects need to ensure healthcare keeps pace with 21st century technologies, says Susan Dentzer.


The Network for Excellence in Health Innovation has picked “work stream” leaders for its Health Care Without Walls initiative, which seeks a more distributed care system outside of conventional institutional settings by heavily leveraging technology.

NEHI has created separate work streams for achieving its vision for such a distributed care system. Specifically, these work streams—which will develop policy recommendations and action plans for healthcare stakeholders—will focus on five areas:
  • Technological capabilities that could underpin a more distributed care system
  • Changes in payment, reimbursement and health system financing that could foster transformation
  • Regulatory obstacles and concerns
  • Healthcare workforce needed for such a system
  • Human factors to support or militate against more rapid uptake of technologies

Starting this month, the five work streams will meet to examine the opportunities for creating a distributed care system as well as the existing barriers.

Launched in May, NEHI’s Health Care Without Walls is “premised on the notion that advances in technology, such as telehealth and remote sensors, are already shifting care outside of conventional institutional settings, including hospitals and physicians’ offices.”

However, by also tapping into other innovations such as population health, new payment models and an augmented workforce, NEHI contends that healthcare can be transformed to better meet individuals’ needs “as much as possible in the home, community or workplace” resulting in a more efficient healthcare system with expanded access and lower costs.

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“Our initiative reflects the need to make certain that healthcare keeps pace with the technologies of the 21st century,” said Susan Dentzer, president and CEO of NEHI. “We are delighted that it will be led by experts with a wealth of experience and the shared passion to stimulate the beneficial transformation of care.”

In particular, six experts have been named to lead the Health Care Without Walls technology work stream:
  • Barbara DeBuono, MD, vice president of clinical strategy and value-based care, 3M Health Information Systems
  • Dusty Majumdar, vice president and chief marketing officer, IBM Watson Health
  • Karen Murphy, chief innovation officer, Geisinger
  • Amit Rastogi, MD, senior vice president for strategy, growth and innovation, Inova
  • Sara Vaezy, chief digital strategy officer, Providence St. Joseph Health
  • Joel Vengco, chief information officer and senior vice president, Baystate Health

“I am very excited to work on this initiative to promote innovation in the healthcare industry,” said Murphy, who is executive vice president, chief innovation officer and founding director of the Steele Institute for Healthcare Innovation at Geisinger. “This is a great opportunity to drive meaningful change and to work collaboratively to tackle challenges facing our delivery system today.”

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