The Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC) has named Jay Want, MD, Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Want, a nationally recognized leader in health care quality and cost innovation, joins CIVHC’s executive team.

Want served as founding chairman of the board for Center for Improving Value in Health Care until early 2012. For eight years he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Physician Health Partners, LLC, a management services organization serving over 60,000 covered lives in Colorado, and supporting nearly 300 primary care physicians in providing high quality, cost-effective care. He has served on task forces for the Colorado Division of Insurance, The Colorado Trust, the Colorado Hospital Association, and the Governor’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Health Care Reform. He also served as chairman of the Northwest Denver Care Transitions Steering Committee, a program that successfully lowered hospital readmissions by 10% while improving care for Medicare beneficiaries over a two year period.

Most recently, Dr. Want has consulted for a wide variety of clients, including Colorado Foundation for Medical Care, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as owner and principal of Want Healthcare, LLC. He currently serves on the board of the non-profit Rocky Mountain Health Plan, and in January 2012, he was appointed as one of the initial Innovation Advisors for CMS.

“As founding chairman of CIVHC’s board, Dr. Want has been an integral part of our development and growth as a backbone organization for health care improvement,” said Phil Kalin, president and CEO of CIVHC. “His passion to improve our health care system combined with his insight on how to achieve high quality and lower cost care is virtually unparalleled in our state. Dr. Want’s knowledge, skills and relationships with the health care community are incredible assets to our organization.”

In his new part time role as Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Want is responsible for engaging providers and contributing to CIVHC’s overall strategic direction to support achieving the Triple Aim of improving health, enhancing quality and curbing health care costs in Colorado. “As a board-certified internal medicine physician and practicing primary care internist for ten years, I understand first-hand the challenges health care reform poses for practicing providers,” said Want. “I believe providers need to lead the transformation to a more effective, efficient, and humane system for providers and patients alike, and I look forward to supporting and collaborating with my colleagues in my new position.”

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