Alliance Blog

No one likes a failing grade. But in the 2015 Catalyst for Payment Reform (CPR) – Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute (HCI3) Report Card on State Price Transparency Laws, Washington didn’t fare too well. In fact, we got an F. Nearly all states did, and have for the three years the report has been issued, ...

We’re excited to welcome our newest member, Confluence Health, to the Alliance. Founded in July, 2013, Confluence Health is an affiliation between Central Washington Hospital and Wenatchee Valley Medical Center. With over 350 physicians and mid-level practitioners, they provide primary care to central Washington residents and also draw patients from throughout the region for specialty care. Confluence Health ...

Have you ever been in a store, where you found what you were looking for – quickly even – but your experience was so bad you vowed never to go back again? The same is true in health care, though the stakes are so much higher. It’s not just about getting care quickly. Your experience ...

We are pleased to announce that the Alliance has been selected by the Washington State Health Care Authority to lead implementation of the Washington State Common Measure Set for Health Care Quality and Cost, and that the Alliance’s Community Checkup website will host the publicly available results going forward. The starter set of more than ...

This month, we’re excited to welcome two new members to the Alliance: MPIRICA Health Analytics and the City of Kirkland. MPIRICA is an up-and-coming health analytics firm and we are excited to have them join the conversation. The City of Kirkland joins our other public purchaser members who bring the perspective of a public purchasing ...

In a recent New Yorker article, Atul Gawande explores the ongoing crisis of unnecessary care in the United States, discussing the issues with doctors, patients and those who study the issue from coast to coast. What it all comes down to is this: the United States health care system is facing an epidemic of overdiagnosis, ...

Coalition for Health Care Cost Transparency applauds Governor Jay Inslee and state legislators for bi-partisan effort Olympia, May 14, 2015—At a ceremony in his office today, Washington Gov. Jay Inslee signed legislation to establish a fully functional All-Payer Claims Database (APCD), which will give consumers, providers and employers important new information to understand the quality ...

Last week, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) released the results of a poll conducted in March that found three-quarters of emergency physicians have seen an increase in emergency room (ER) patient visits since early 2014, when the Affordable Care Act (ACA) took effect. The poll mirrors what had been anticipated by ACEP, as ...

In a victory for health care transparency, the Washington State Legislature, with strong bipartisan support, passed a bill to establish a functional, state-mandated All-Payer Claims Database (APCD), which is a good step forward in giving health care purchasers and consumers more information about pricing among health care providers in our state. I want to thank ...

This month, we’re excited to welcome a brand new member, Compass Professional Health Services, and a returning member, Vera Whole Health, to the Alliance. Both bring expertise in innovative health care delivery models. And both will help us continue to deliver on our mission building a strong alliance among patients, doctors, hospitals, purchasers, health plans ...

For many people, the first time they heard about “value-based” payment is with the passage of the “doc fix” bill, which averts a 21-percent cut in Medicare payments to doctors while at the same time moving future reimbursement to pay-for-performance and away from traditional fee-for-service medicine. But for the last four years, a team of ...

As the end of April nears, so does the final date of the Washington Health Alliance’s participation in the Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) program. AF4Q has been the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) signature effort to lift the overall quality of health care in targeted communities and provide models for national reform. The Alliance ...