When you enter a doctor’s office, what kind of experience do you have? Does the staff treat you with respect? Does your doctor listen to you and seem to know
Posts Categorized: Health Care Value
Understanding quality in health care
Quality varies widely from one provider’s office to another and even from one doctor’s patient to another. Not all care is equally good. Learn what you can do to find
Rewarding value in health care—the savvy health care purchaser
As individual consumers, every time we make a purchase we must weigh cost and quality to determine value. Employers and labor union trusts purchasing health care benefits are doing the
Employers shifting more costs to workers
Recently released results from a survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust found employers continue to shift expenses to workers, with deductibles rising substantially
Leveraging the collective power of purchasers to transform health care
Value-based purchasing is industry speak for something we do every day—buy things, services and experiences. In each purchase we weigh cost and quality to determine value. We can purchase health
Who defines good patient experience?
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
Four keys to success for value-based payment reform
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
AF4Q and taking local action to transform health care
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
Reducing avoidable emergency room visits in Washington state
Too often emergency rooms become the place where patients go with problems that are not emergencies. When simple medical concerns that can be treated easily and more cost effectively in
Health care transparency and the value equation
When we are in the doctor’s office, we all want the highest quality of care. While quality is obviously a very high priority, it isn’t the only thing that matters
Washington receives $65 million to accelerate health care innovation
Washington state just received a very nice Christmas gift from the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) in the form of a $65 million grant to accelerate heath care
Purchaser power in the health care market
More than half of Americans get their health insurance through their employer. As a group, employers have enormous power to shape the health care market. But, employers rarely realize this. That’s
Aligning Forces for Quality: Increasing value in health care
Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) is the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s signature effort to lift the overall quality of health care in targeted communities, reduce racial and ethnic disparities and
Employers role in the health care value equation
As a consumer, when you hear the word “value,” what does it mean to you? Do you think of what you can get at the local dollar store? Does it
Innovation, data needed to drive improvement in our health care system
Letter from our executive director Sometimes relatively simple innovations can inspire big changes. For example, Swedish Medical Center, featured in our latest Spotlight on Improvement, is revamping its “daily labs”
Swedish Medical Center: Rethinking the practice of ordering daily labs to reduce waste and improve care
Read how Swedish Medical Center is making a big impact through a simple, innovative solution—changing the practice of ordering “daily labs,” or a lab automatically ordered for every day a
Reduce your hospital “sticker shock”
Sometimes you can’t avoid going to the hospital, but you can try to be prepared before you go. Understand which hospitals are in your insurance plan’s network, know the details
New report on hospital sticker prices reveals tremendous variation among hospitals for similar procedures and treatments
Fourfold differences in prices are common The Washington Health Alliance (the Alliance) announced today the publication of a new report that details tremendous variation in billing prices for common procedures
First statewide report in nation to measure Choosing Wisely® recommendations finds overuse and widespread geographic variation
Data from 3.3 million lives in Washington illustrates successes and opportunities for improvement Washington State Choosing Wisely Task Force unveils campaign to focus on imaging for uncomplicated headaches The first
Rockwood Clinic: Adding Choosing Wisely® recommendations into existing culture of quality
Choosing Wisely® is a national initiative helping physicians and patients have conversations about the overuse of tests and procedures and supports physicians’ efforts to help patients make smart and effective