Kevin Conlin, President & CEO of Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (BCBSNJ) was recently interviewed for New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute's Take Five series. 

Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey has been a member of the Quality Institute for almost 20 years and is one of our earliest members. Can you tell us why the organization values its membership?

Improving the quality of health care in New Jersey has been central to our mission as long as we’ve been in existence. So, joining the Quality Institute was an easy call. The Quality Institute serves a critical role in many ways; most notably, in convening representatives from various areas in health care — people from different disciplines and with different perspectives. I think the Quality Institute has been instrumental in fostering the critical dialogue around the shift from volume to value-based care. The shift, in my view, has been essential to transforming the health care system so it’s more collaborative, more aligned, and really more focused around the needs of the patient rather than the needs of the delivery system. And one last thought, achieving the Triple Aim must be a team sport — it’s going to take all of us coming together to discuss openly and honestly the challenges we face. The Quality Institute has played a tremendous leadership role in that regard.

Read more at New Jersey Health Care Quality Institute.