We have a tradition in the Alliance office, the “ringing of the bell.” Whenever we have a significant achievement, we ring a bell and gather together for just a moment
Posts Categorized: Cost of Health Care
Using Data to Drive Value
You often hear me talk about driving our work to action and I’m delighted to share some exciting news on a project that will do just that. The Alliance has
Previewing the Alliance’s Latest Work
Hospital costs is a big topic these days. It’s not surprising when one-third of our health care dollars go to care in hospitals. And on the consumer side, medical bills
Alliance Releases the Latest Waste Report
We’ve gotten a lot of attention from our latest report released last week, using the Milliman MedInsight Health Waste Calculator™ (Calculator) to look at waste in terms of the 47
Health Care Facts and a Preview of the Alliance’s Newest Report
You know health care is top of mind when the Wall Street Journal publishes a multiple choice questionnaire about health care costs. My staff and I recently took the WSJ
Primary Care Spending Results Deserve a Closer Look and Employers Are Making a Difference
It is fitting that our All-Alliance Meeting later this month focuses on primary care. We have long believed that primary care prevents more serious health issues down the line and
Washington Health Alliance Responds to Senate Call for Ways to Address Rising Health Care Costs
March 7, 2019 Via Email The Honorable Lamar Alexander 455 Dirksen Senate Office Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Senator Alexander, Thank you for the opportunity to provide recommendations to help
All-Alliance Meeting: Monday, March 11 — Making Health Care More Affordable for Employers and Individuals
Reducing waste and making health care affordable—these are issues that engender more questions than answers. But I’m happy to report there is some encouraging news. We are fortunate to have
Hospital Price Transparency: It’s complicated
You cut your finger making dinner. You’re not sure if you need stitches, and you have a high deductible. You quickly check online for the cost and the waiting time
Are we there yet?
In the introduction to our 2018 Community Checkup – just released this week – we use the metaphor of a journey to describe our health care improvement efforts in Washington
Health Care Purchasers Need to Hit the “Play” (not the “Pause”) Button on Value-Based Purchasing Strategies
This month’s letter is written by Deputy Director Susie Dade on a timely topic, the impact of purchasers on value-based purchasing strategies – one of her many areas of expertise.
September 2018 Letter from the Executive Director: Nancy Giunto to Testify on Transparency Before Senate Subcommittee
On a hot, smoky, not-so-transparent day in Seattle last month, I received an email from a staff member of the US Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee inquiring
August 2018 Letter from the Executive Director: The Why and How of Health Care Affordability
“Americans aren’t buying more health care overall than other countries. But what they are buying is increasingly expensive.” I’m sure this quote from the recent Wall Street Journal article “Why
Building our next health system: Highlights from the Lown Conference
The Lown Institute’s Annual Conference was held last week, with the theme of “Breaking the cycle of high cost and low value: America’s next health system.” The Alliance’s Deputy Director,
New Study Finds Hundreds of Thousands of Washington Patients Receive Unnecessary Tests, Procedures, and Treatments
In one year, an estimated $282 million was spent on “wasteful” health care for 622,000 Washington patients Washington becomes just the third state in the nation to use a new
Takeaways from the National Affordability Summit
Last month I shared that the Alliance received a scholarship through the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement’s Getting to Affordability initiative, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, for registration
Reporting on Pricing a Critical Step in Alliance’s Promotion of Transparency
At the Alliance, we define high-value health care as high quality and good patient experience at a fair price. Over the past eleven years, and with the help and support
Price transparency gets graded in new report
The Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute (HCI3) and the Catalyst for Payment Reform recently released their fourth report card on State Price Transparency Laws. Colorado, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont and
Washington state lags behind on health care cost transparency
Earlier this month, I had the pleasure of presenting at the National Employer Leadership Seminar, an invitation-only event sponsored by the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI). The goal of
New study finds stark difference in prices between private insurance and Medicare
A report released today from the Health Care Pricing Project highlights the stark difference between Medicare and private health insurance pricing for common health procedures. The report has garnered media attention,