Alliance Blog

Today, the Alliance learned it has not been chosen by the Washington State Office of Financial Management (OFM) as the Apparently Successful Bidder to serve as the Lead Organization for the Washington State All-Payer Claims Database (WA-APCD). The Alliance was a finalist during the procurement process that was completed on July 15th. The announcement, which was ...

Despite the beckoning summer sun, the Alliance team has been busier than ever working on projects that will provide value to not only our members, but to all health care consumers and purchasers in our state. Later this month we will be releasing three new reports on quality and utilization of health care, as well ...

This month, we’re excited to welcome Alvarez & Marsal as the newest member of the Alliance. About Alvarez & Marsal Privately held since 1983, Alvarez & Marsal is a leading global professional services firm that delivers business performance improvement, turnaround management and advisory services to organizations seeking to transform operations, catapult growth and accelerate results ...

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 the seminar was to share best practices in engaging purchasers to move the market to purchasing for value. There were many opportunities to talk about ...

A few weeks ago, Seattle and the nation were transfixed by a young man’s 24 hour standoff in a downtown Seattle tree. This is an opportunity for us to reflect on the state of mental health services in Washington, and figure out how we can do better. One study, which looked at prevalence of mental ...

This month, we’re excited to welcome Foster Pepper as the newest member of the Alliance. Foster Pepper For more than a century, Foster Pepper has been an integral part of the growth of the Pacific Northwest community. With more than 130 attorneys located in Seattle and Spokane, Washington, the firm has the deep industry knowledge, ...

Colorectal cancer is the fourth most common cancer in the United States and the second leading cause of death from cancer. It affects people in all racial and ethnic groups and is most often found in people age 50 and older. In Washington, colorectal cancer is the second most common cancer and the second leading ...

Since 2008, the Alliance has released an annual report highlighting health care quality and value at medical groups and hospitals in Washington state. Each year, the report demonstrates that the quality of care varies and that everyone has room to improve. At the Alliance, we also seek to continuously improve, and therefore try to adapt ...

The last few weeks have been exceptionally active for the Alliance. In February, we released our third report on the quality of patient experience in our state. Patient experience is an important component of health care value, which has become a top priority of both health care leaders and consumers. The survey, sent to 181,000 ...

This month, we’re excited to welcome both Express Scripts and CareATC as the newest members of the Alliance. Express Scripts Express Scripts works to make the use of prescription drugs safer and more affordable, managing more than one billion prescriptions each year for tens of millions of patients. Their clients include employers, health plans, unions ...

This blog post was re-printed with permission of the Institute of Translational Health Sciences. If you work in primary care, you’ve probably heard of Choosing Wisely. Established in 2012 by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation, Choosing Wisely is a national initiative to reduce “low-value care” that includes the overuse of tests and ...

Until recently, health care purchasing is the one area in which usual business practices, such as supply chain management, are not employed to manage cost and quality. Purchasers have often felt powerless to negotiate for better value or felt they have little choice but to accept what health care providers and health insurance plans offer. ...