The Berkeley Forum – A Roadmap for Improving Healthcare in California

Abstract The ACA’s passage was followed by great uncertainty about how the healthcare landscape would transform. During this tumultuous period, a unique group of California’s private sector health systems, medical groups and health plans, alongside public sector leaders, came together to help shape a more effective healthcare system. The Berkeley Forum, facilitated by the School of Public Health at the University of California-Berkeley, provided an opportunity for healthcare leaders to engage with peers and stakeholders in an intimate, collaborative manner, and address what they viewed as the largest threat – uncontrolled healthcare spending, detached from quality and outcomes. The group issued a report, endorsed by each of the private sector participants, containing far-reaching recommendations. The report’s central tenant is the “Forum Vision”, a rapid shift towards paying providers using risk-adjusted global budgets rather than fee-for-service, coupled with greater use of integrated systems that coordinate care across settings, providers and time. Implementation of the Forum Vision along with six other initiatives, such as increased physical activity and palliative care access, could reduce healthcare spending by $110 billion in the coming 10 years. Today, these high-level leaders continue to provide a unified voice to promote better health and higher-quality, affordable care for Californians.