Alliance Blog

Improving the performance of our health care system requires collaboration between all stakeholders – providers, purchasers, health plans and consumers. For a decade, the Alliance has worked to strengthen the role of the health consumer through a number of activities, including: Choosing Wisely, our patient experience survey, the Consumer Engagement Committee and the Own Your ...

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 faster than total health costs. According to the survey, 46 percent of covered workers have a deductible of at least $1,000 this year for single ...

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 care services in the same way if we ask the right questions, collaborate with brokers, health plans and providers and push for answers. This takes ...

This month, we’re excited to welcome the Washington Health Benefit Exchange as the newest member of the Alliance. The Washington Health Benefit Exchange is a public-private partnership established in accordance with the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA) to implement a new health insurance marketplace for individuals and small businesses. The Exchange ...

Since its founding a decade ago, the Alliance has been dedicated to leading health system change. That’s why we are proud to partner with the Washington State Health Care Authority (HCA) on the Healthier Washington initiative. Healthier Washington is the state’s innovative effort to transform our health care system so that people experience better health ...

This month, we’re excited to welcome both Valant and Relypsa as the newest members of the Alliance. Valant Valant® is transforming the quality of behavioral health care in the U.S. through its SaaS electronic health records (EHR) and electronic billing suite for psychiatrists, therapists and behavioral health professionals. Founded in 2005 by Dr. David Lischner, ...

Reducing underuse of effective care has been a long-standing goal of the Alliance. Addressing disparities in care, based on race, ethnicity, language or socioeconomic status, is one way to evaluate progress on this goal. This September, we will be releasing our third Disparities in Care report, revealing disparities in patient care based on race, language and ...

We want high quality, affordable health care for everyone – whatever their race, ethnicity, financial status, gender or where they live. But we know that who you are can affect the care that you get. That’s a particular issue for minority communities, where some people not only experience higher rates of disease, but also don’t ...

This month, we’re excited to welcome Kittitas Valley Healthcare (KVH) to the Alliance. Situated in the heart of Washington, KVH provides care to Kittitas County and surrounding areas. KVH Hospital provides 24-hour emergency care and offers inpatient and outpatient hospital services. KVH also provides care through clinics and specialty services in both Upper and Lower ...

Washington Health Alliance plans to survey 140,000 patients! Patients are the best source of information about their experience in their primary care provider’s office. While ensuring a positive patient experience is an important goal in itself, research has shown that patient experience is related to other aspects of health care quality as well as to ...

Recently, ProPublica released its Surgeon Scorecard, which used five years of Medicare data to assess complication rates of common elective procedures. These lower risk procedures include knee and hip replacements, spinal fusions and gallbladder removals, among others. Using an algorithm, the group took into account risk factors such as a patient’s age and health conditions ...

The Alliance has enjoyed many successes since its start 10 years ago and you have been a vital part of these efforts. Our hard work continues, and here are a few exciting initiatives that will continue to position the Alliance as a catalyst for health care transformation in our state. Since 2008, the Community Checkup ...