After sharing their stories with Congress at our recent event, the Health CEOs for Health Reform traveled down Pennsylvania Avenue to the White House to spread the word about the achievability of health system reform.

Dr. Gary Kaplan, Chairman and CEO of Virginia Mason Medical Center, and Lloyd Dean, President and CEO of Catholic Healthcare West, were part of a select group of provider and clinician leaders invited to meet with top health care aides to the president, Nancy-Ann DeParle and Valerie Jarrett.

Kaplan and Dean report that health care leaders called for system change and a move away from fee-for-service medicine that rewards providers for tests and treatments regardless of quality. (Check out recommendations from Health CEOs for Health Reform for more information). They also reiterated that for system change to truly be efficient and effective it must be coupled with coverage for all, which reminds us once again that health care cost, coverage, and quality problems are inextricably linked.  

This meeting was one part of a full day of health care for Administration leaders. The president also welcomed a bipartisan group of governors and held a primetime town hall meeting featured on ABC.