Going Below The Surface

Going Below The Surface was an NPC-led initiative to broaden and improve the conversation around how we use health care resources in the United States.

NPC's Going Below The Surface (GBTS) initiative aimed to better understand the nation’s health spending by promoting discussion firmly based in health policy and systems research. We wanted to provide clarity on how best to optimize health care spending so that patients receive the right care while simultaneously providing the right incentives to sustain next-generation innovation to improve patient well-being and health system efficiencies.

To get at the root of what is driving U.S. health care spending, GBTS brought together stakeholders from all health care sectors to ask tough questions. For example, how could we be spending more effectively on health care? Should health care resources be shared equally or geared toward the few who are most ill? Can we identify the specific areas where we can cut spending, and will that allow us to invest more in next-generation innovation?

While NPC has now sunset GBTS, our interest in nurturing a productive and informed dialogue about the drivers of U.S. health care spending hasn’t waned. The tough questions and challenges around health spending aren’t going away. We’ll continue to dig deeper on health spending research, with the goal of fostering evidence-based conversations.

Thank you to the diverse partner organizations who collaborated with us as part of the GBTS Forum to promote dialogue, develop research and communicate about health spending topics.

Health care thought leaders share the "tough questions" about spending that they'd like to see addressed.

Highlights from Going Below the Surface include:

Policy experts from leading foundations and universities, including NPC, Kaiser Family Foundation, Harvard University, Duke Margolis Center for Health Policy, RTI International, the University of Chicago and others, share their views on health spending.