Alliance Blog

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 innovation in the state.  The grant will allow the state to implement key elements of its Health Care Innovation Plan. The grant is recognition of ...

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 why it’s important and encouraging to see leading employers in our state, such as Boeing and Starbucks (both Alliance members), step up and demand higher ...

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 provide models for national reform. The Washington Health Alliance was selected in 2006 to be one of 16 AF4Q communities. At the time, we were ...

Since the Alliance’s founding, we have served as a convener, building trust among those who give, get and pay for health care to create change in the health care system. We know the only way we are going to improve health care in our state is to make sure key stakeholders have a seat at ...

In November, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation hosted the ALIGN Summit, the final conference bringing together representatives from Aligning Forces for Quality communities to share successes and tools they’ve developed. In one of a series of presentations modeled after the popular TED talks, John Gallagher, Alliance director of communication and development and part-time bed and ...

After giving birth to their daughter in Hawaii, a Canadian couple’s health insurance claim was denied and they received a million dollar medical bill. While this story highlights an extreme case, health care is costly business for everyone in the system. There are many potential solutions that will bring about more affordable health care, but ...

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 mean the best quality for the best price? But as an employer choosing a health plan for your employees, are you also thinking about value? ...

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” process—saving money, reducing discomfort and improving safety for their patients. This effort benefits consumers and providers and shows how delivery systems are committed to transforming ...

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 patient is in the hospital. Following Choosing Wisely recommendations, Swedish Medical Center encourages physicians to only order tests that are clinically relevant. The results? This ...

This month, we’re excited to welcome Columbia United Providers, Inc. (CUP), Type2Companion.com and Recon Strategy as our newest members. Thanks to the support of our members, the Alliance is able to produce the Community Checkup and move the needle toward a more transparent and high-quality health system. Columbia United Providers, Inc. (CUP) Columbia United Providers, Inc. (CUP) ...

In June 2014, Washington State Governor Jay Inslee appointed a diverse group of leaders to serve on the Performance Measures Coordinating Committee (PMCC) to recommend standard statewide measures of health performance to inform public and private health care purchasing, as well as propose targets to track costs and improvements in health outcomes. The committee, along ...

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 of your plan’s cost-sharing arrangement and if uninsured, begin to investigate the financial aid options at your local hospital. Why is it important, before going ...