A Hexagonal Aim as a Driver of Change for Health Care and Health Insurance Systems

Policy Points:

• Improving health systems requires the pursuit of both patient-centered care and a supportive environment for health professionals. The Quadruple Aim includes improving the experience of care, improving the health of populations, reducing per capita costs of care, and improving the work life of the care providers.
• We propose expanding a recently defined Fifth Aim of health equity to include health democracy, ensuring that that the health and health care wants, needs, and responsibilities of populations are being met, and also propose adding a Sixth Aim of preserving and improving the health of the environment to create the best health possible.
• As social tension and environmental changes continue to impact the structure of our society, this “Hexagonal Aim” might provide additional ethical guiderails as we set our health care goals to foster sustainable and improved population health.