Only nine Medicare Advantage plans in the country earned 5 stars overall, and Group Health Cooperative’s plan is one of them.
Numbers are the currency of the land—the best way we have to demonstrate accountability and transparency regarding how we take care of people. But over the years our concept of quality has evolved beyond just scores and numbers. Continue reading ‘Performance Matters’
For the fifth report in a row, Group Health’s group practice received the most top ratings on quality care measures in the Puget Sound Health Alliance (PSHA) Community Checkup, which was released last week.
The Community Checkup reports on performance related to the treatment of asthma, diabetes, depression, prevention of certain diseases, and the use of antibiotics and generic medications. Continue reading ‘Group Health still #1 in PSHA Community Checkup’
Group Health and the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance (SCCA) are finalizing a new affiliation that will broaden treatment options for our medical oncology patients served at Bellevue, Olympia, Seattle and Tacoma medical centers.
SCCA is a world-class cancer treatment center that unites doctors from Fred Hutchison Cancer Research Center, University of Washington Medicine, and Seattle Children’s. It invites affiliates that meet its high standards as a clinical partner. Continue reading ‘New cancer care affiliation broadens treatment options’
If you missed Group Health’s first-ever Innovations Conference on March 25, take the next two minutes to check out the highlight video. My colleagues wowed conference guests like State Health Officeer Maxine Hayes, King County Executive Dow Constantine, thought leaders from Puget Sound Health Alliance, and fellow doctors from Polyclinic, PacMed, Franciscan Hospital and dozens of other groups.
Pioneering researcher, professor, and author John E. Wennberg, MD, MPH gave the keynote address on “Tracking Medicine: A Researcher’s Quest to Understand Health Care.”
Group Health created this event as a day of industry learning. It was a chance to share things we do know about transforming delivery systems, and more importantly, to talk about the things we have yet to learn. Continue reading ‘Innovations Conference content now online’
An X-ray or MRI may show arthritis in a knee, but only the owner of that knee knows whether it hurts enough to merit a joint replacement.
That’s the logic behind Group Health’s effort to involve patients more deeply in their health care decisions. In a process called “shared decision making,” members and their physicians can engage in an active, informed discussion about the benefits—and possible downsides—of a surgical procedure. The goal: health care that reflects a member’s values and priorities, rather than only what a medical diagnosis recommends. Continue reading ‘A better way to improve member outcomes’
I recently spoke about Group Health’s successful drug disposal program, to inform the DEA’s implementation of the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010. Although our program, up and running since 2006 in 25 pharmacies, has been successful, the new law would allow us to legally accept controlled substances, which under current regulations can only be brought to a local police station for disposal. Continue reading ‘Urging support for prescription drug take-back programs’
Dr. Harold Dash, President of the Board for The Everett Clinic, and I presented at The State of Reform conference on January 5 on the topic of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) — or as we presented being accountable for the care of patients in ways that increase the quality care and is more affordable.
Much discussion at the conference at SeaTac focused on tough challenges posed by steep state budget cuts that will hit critical health programs as well as the rising cost of medical care. So there was a lot of interest in the topic of ACOs, which have been held out as one of the few elements of reform aimed at improving care and bringing down costs. Continue reading ‘ACOs could spread cost saving innovations’
Heated discussions rage over rising costs and the lack of access to affordable care. Medical professionals argue about whether we should pay for prevention or just procedures. Accusations fly about how changes to the way medical care is delivered could lead to socialism.
While it may sound a lot like the great American health care debates of the last few years, what I’m actually referring to is the turbulent time in 1946 when Group Health, the Seattle-based health care cooperative that I lead, was created. Continue reading ‘Quality Lessons’
It is especially great news, as we approach election day and in a year when much Congressional debate on health care policy was frought with disagreement, that federal legislation to provide safe disposal of prescription drugs passed last week with widespread bipartisan support. The final version of S. 3397, the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010 (a compromise between House and Senate versions of the legislation – S. 3397 and H.R. 5809, the Safe Drug Disposal Act), is expected to soon be signed into law by the President. Continue reading ‘New law provides for safe disposal of prescription drugs’
The New England Journal of Medicine published a remarkable study on palliative care last month. Massachusetts General Hospital researchers compared two groups of patients, all recently diagnosed with a deadly lung cancer. One group received standard cancer care, with palliative care given only if requested by the patient, family, or oncologist. For the second group, the care started with a palliative care approach. As expected, the second group ended up getting less aggressive treatment. They also experienced better quality of life and less depression. And here’s the surprise: The same group ended up living, on average, nearly three months longer.
Continue reading ‘Transformative research demands courage to ask tough questions’
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