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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />The San Francisco Bay Area is becoming <br />something of an incubator for innovative, <br />forward-looking health care delivery systems -- <br />not really a surprise with Silicon Valley as the <br />heart of technology and creative thinking. <br /> <br />Creating innovation-friendly "ecosystems" and <br />fostering collaboration are woven into Bay Area <br />strategies to encourage innovation and new <br />ideas. Many of the same goals included in the <br />Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act are <br />echoed in Bay Area efforts to innovate -- using <br />data to improve outcomes, managing health <br />holistically, empowering patients, ensuring <br />connectivity, lowering costs and delivering value. <br /> <br />The first -- and by many measures foremost -- of <br />these Bay Area efforts is Kaiser Permanente's <br />Sidney R. Garfield Health Care Innovation <br />Center, a living laboratory of mocked-up clinical <br />environments where new ways of delivering <br />health care can be tested. <br /> <br />Kaiser launched the Garfield Center in San <br />Leandro six years ago. The 37,000 square-foot <br />facility may look like a Hollywood-style movie <br />set, but its actors are very real physicians, <br />nurses, patients, architects, engineers and <br />technical experts. <br /> <br />They test technology, simulate the optimum <br />patient environment and develop best practices <br />in a living lab. <br /> <br />Preaching What You Practice <br />Jennifer Liebermann, director of the Garfield <br />Center, is quick to point out that the center does <br />not operate in a vacuum but has gathered input <br />from organizations globally. "At the end of the <br />day, we want our members to have a seamless <br />experience resulting from cooperation among <br />and input from providers and patients," she said. <br /> <br />B AY A REA B ECOMING C ENTER OF H EALTH <br />C ARE I NNOVATION <br /> <br />CALIFORNIA Healthline <br />May 17, 2012 <br />By Mari Edlin (excerpt from full article) <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />San Leandro, CA <br />