(HHS: Washington, D.C.) -- The Chartered Value Exchanges (CVEs) is a growing movement to build a health care system where consumers, providers, and payers make decisions based on the value and quality of care. Currently, there are 25 local collaborations of health care providers, employers, insurers, and consumers working jointly to improve care and make quality and price information widely available. The CVEs’ initiative is one of several that the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) centers have taken to help people choose the best care based on nationally-recognized measurements of quality and value.

“Local public and private collaboration is essential to achieving a health system based on quality and value. The most effective strategy for achieving long-term improvement is the development of national measures and standards and the implementation of local solutions to utilize them,” says HHS secretary, Michael Leavitt. “With this distinction we are doing two things: we are recognizing the work these communities have already done to improve care; and we are giving them new tools to advance their efforts to implement, at the local level, a value-driven health care market.”

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