Putting Patients' Needs First

Floor Speech

Mr. WALZ. I'm here today to applaud this House for fighting for working Americans by last weekend passing comprehensive welfare reform. I want to recognize this legislation takes a huge step forward in addressing the issue of paying for value in our health care system.

The current payment system rewards volume and quantity of care rather than quality of care. We spend hundreds of billions of dollars every year on unnecessary tests and procedures that do not improve a patient's health. We need to change the incentive system. We need doctors and hospitals to work together to coordinate care, putting the patients' needs first.

In my district of southern Minnesota, the Mayo Clinic has created such a culture where doctors coordinate and look for the best quality results. There are other institutions around the country who also provide high-quality, efficient care at low costs. These organizations all do it differently, but the one thing they have in common is a culture of patient-centered care.

This culture needs to be replicated in every hospital across the country, and the way we get there is by changing the incentive system. I'm very proud that the provisions in this bill will address this very issue. If we're to reform any part of health care this year, this is the key.

Source