By Robert Pearl, M.D., Chair, Council of Accountable Physician Practices

“Better Together” is a blog dedicated to sharing thoughts and ideas on how physicians can effectively lead the movement to improve the American healthcare system. Through articles written by  by  CAPP medical group physician  leaders and others aligned with our mission, this forum will inform and inspire physicians and health care leaders to improve the way we deliver care.

We all know about the gaps in our health care system that make receiving medical care difficult for many  patients, and keep physicians from communicating, coordinating and collaborating with each other to make the best, most timely care decisions. The 28 multi-specialty medical groups and integrated health systems of CAPP are leaders and pioneers that strive to deliver a superior kind of health care — accountable, proactive,  physician led and patient focused. The result is increased preventive services, improved coordination and greater availability of advanced information  technology.

Through the “Better Together”  forum, I believe that physicians can engage in discussions around ways to deliver and pay for medical care more effectively, share best practices, propose innovative ideas and wrestle with the common challenges that practitioners and patients across this nation face.

A New Direction for CAPP

This website and the “Better Together” blog represent a new direction for CAPP, one that seeks to find the signal through the noise, articulates the the benefits of integrated, organized systems of care in a way that we can all understand and helps other physicians embrace a more integrated practice structure. CAPP has long been engaged in promoting new solutions for care delivery and in leading  the movement towards greater accountability in healthcare. Our focus now expands to include educating American consumers, health care providers and payers about what accountable, coordinated  care actually looks like and the improved clinical outcomes it achieves.

Aligned with that goal, we have organized our first-ever major event to examine the model in greater detail, and allow participants to engage in a dialogue on this topic.

“Better Together — High Tech and High Touch: Patient-Physician Relationships in the New Millennium” will be held on Wednesday, November 4th, 2015, at the Center for Total Health in Washington, D.C. The three-hour event, in partnership with The Bipartisan Policy Center (bipartisanpolicy.org), will bring together doctors, policy makers, patient advocates and patients to share real stories and the potential that the use of robust technology and video in accountable, coordinated systems can have.

Our members, and many of our colleagues in the healthcare world, continue to be troubled by a persistent knowledge gap and the seemingly low expectations surrounding the transformation of American medicine in the new era of “the consumer.” In particular, we’re concerned that two important voices – the patient’s and the physician’s — are often conspicuously absent in the national dialogue on this critical subject. This and future events will  amplify those voices to achieve legislative and regulatory  reforms that support the patient-physician relationship.

We invite you to the live webcast of this event and to join the discussion. (For more information about the “Better Together” event, click here.)

Tell us, how do you think we could  be “Better Together” in healthcare delivery? We look forward to hearing your perspective.