Aligning Forces for Quality: A Tremendous Journey

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) initiative brought together people who get, give, and pay for health care in 16 regions to collaborate in an effort to improve quality.

In eight years, AF4Q sparked deep and meaningful change in 16 very different communities across America, providing lessons and insights for other regions.

Key Findings

• Aligning Forces alliances improved patient outcomes at a faster rate than other communities—for example, exceeding the national average for improvement in blood sugar and cholesterol control in patients with diabetes.

• The performance of more than 10,000 physicians, 2,500 medical groups/clinics, and hundreds of hospitals was measured and publicly reported in Aligning Forces communities.

• Aligning Forces communities developed, tested, and refined websites to ensure consumers understood information about the comparative cost and quality of care provided by different clinicians.

• Patients are valuable partners—they play a critical role in their own care, and in shaping and improving the health care system.

About the Grantee

Aligning Forces for Quality, an eight-year initiative of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, lifted the overall quality and value of care in 16 targeted communities across the United States.