Nationwide health systems expand patient access

Healthcare systems increasingly adopt high-reliability organization principles to enhance patient safety and extend benefits to patient access and care coordination. The approach, used by UT MD Anderson and others, emphasizes proactive risk identification, learning, and resilience to improve operational performance and patient experiences from referrals to registration. Expanded Access Programs offer investigational treatments when standard options fail, with physicians weighing benefits and risks for life-threatening illnesses, as highlighted by a patient case. The ACA-equipped CMMI model ACCESS tests technology-enabled care management for chronic diseases, aiming to improve outcomes beyond traditional fee-for-service through near-continuous monitoring. Mountain Community Health Partnership is expanding services, including a new mobile health center, to reach more communities and reduce access barriers. Interoperability remains uneven, with progress uneven across providers, yet essential for patient data exchange and access, with evolving generations of patient access from HIPAA rights to modern digital rails.