MBGH Comments at NCQA Press Conference Cited in Modern Healthcare

Modern Healthcare covered the NCQA press conference releasing their 2009 State of Health Care Quality Report and noted MBGH's CEO, Cristie Upshaw Travis' comment on how, in Memphis, MBGH and our members expect plans to collaborate to improve health status:

"Fostering greater collaboration among health plans will help reporting initiatives, said Christie Travis, CEO of Memphis Business Group on Health. “We expect our plans to work together,” Travis said during the conference. The business group is working with three commercial health plans to aggregate patient data in Tennessee and evaluate it for improvement targets, she said."

You can access the NCQA report by clicking here.

MBGH to Present at GMEBC on November 5!! Plan to Attend.

MBGH's CEO, Cristie Upshaw Travis, will present at the November 5, 2009 meeting of the Greater Memphis Employee Benefit Council. She will speak to:
Value Based Benefits: Aligning Health Benefits with the Total Picture for your Company.

PLACE: The Crescent Club
6075 Poplar Ave

TIME: 11:30 A.M. Registration
11:40 A.M. LUNCH (served immediately upon arrival)
12:15 P.M. Program

COST: Please note: If you are not a member of GMEBC, you will need to pay the non-member fee.
$30.00 per person for GUESTS and NON-MEMBERS Of GMEBC
(Cash or Check, which is payable at the meeting)

RESERVATION Friday October 30, 2009 (by Noon)
DEADLINE: Call: Leigh Ann Alexander 901/820-5829
Email: leighann.alexander@fedex.com

Reservations are required for members, non-members and guests. We greatly appreciate your timely response.


CANCELLATION Monday, November 2, 2009 (by Noon)
DEADLINE: Cancellations must be received by the above deadline to avoid meal charges, or you can send someone in your place. This applies to members, non-members, and guests.

Pennsylvania’s Public Reporting of Hospital Outcomes: A Potential Model for Improving Value

From Avalere's Evidence Based Medicine Update:

A recent Wall Street Journal article highlighted Pennsylvania’s twenty-year history of publishing hospital outcomes as a potential model for improving quality and lowering costs nationally. Since 1986, the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) has publicly reported death and complication rates for all Pennsylvania hospitals. The state has found that high-quality treatment usually results in reduced costs manifested in shorter hospital stays and fewer readmissions. Large Pennsylvania employers, such as Hershey Co. and the Philadelphia Police Department, have used PHC4 data to offer health insurance options that steer their employees toward only the highest performing hospitals, producing significant savings. The Senate Finance Committee’s health reform bill would allocate up to $75 million annually to develop methods to improve quality, which could include published hospital outcomes. PHC4 critics claim that the data is imprecise and not comprehensive enough to account for the sickest patients who are seen primarily in academic medical centers. However, the article quotes Jon Blum, Director of the Center for Medicare Management,stating that “there is a clear understanding in the Obama administration that both Medicare and Medicaid need to move in the direction of what’s happening in Pennsylvania.” The article can be read by clicking here.

MBGH is in DC This Week

MBGH is visiting the Hill to explain that poor transitions of care cost employers unnecessary dollars & result in poor quality of care for their employees/families. MBGH will also participate in NCQA's Press Conference releasing their latest State of Health Care Quality report. We will comment on the importance of health plan performance reporting, but stress that employers also expect improvement, which employer coalitions lead in Memphis & across the country.

How Does Your Health Plan Cover Extra-Healthcare Facility Fees?

Does your health plan cover facility fees for outpatient services provided in hospital-owned physician practices? Private physician offices can't charge these fees, but hospital-owned physician practices are able to charge for facility use. As this article explains, these charges can cost your health plan and/or your employees significant dollars. Several issues are important: Knowing there is a facility charge and the amount of that charge; knowing whether your plan covers it or your employee will have to pay for it as an "uncovered" cost. Many people are being caught completely off guard when these fees show up on their bill. Knowing that there is a charge and what it is, is certainly the first step that is needed.

Finally, since private physicians cannot pass along a facility fee, should you consider "incenting" your employees to use private physicians? Share your ideas with MBGH so we can see what your thoughts are on this issue.

Click here for the Washington Post article.

Has your worksite adopted the "Fun Theory"?

According to www.TheFunTheory.com: "Take the stairs instead of the escalator or elevator and feel better” is something we often hear or read in the Sunday papers. Few people actually follow that advice. Can we get more people to take the stairs over the escalator by making it fun to do? See the results here."

MBGH Hosts Health Reform: How Does It Affect Employers?

Andy Webber, President/CEO of National Business Coalition on Health, will be in Memphis on November 24, 2009 to bring us the latest, hot off the press information on health reform, focusing on how reform will impact employers. Click here for additional program & registration information.

Leaving Dallas with my head swimming over Baylor's "Southern Sector Health Initiative"

I learned that Baylor healthcare system has an equity project in South Dallas that is partnering with City of Dallas using a parks & rec facility to create a "medical mansion" (vs. a medical home) that will integrate health, wellness, recreation, medical care and focus on the social-determinants of health as well as health care. WOW!!!! Could we do that in Memphis too?

Click here to read more on this project.

MBGH in the News

MBGH CEO, Cristie Upshaw Travis, featured in Memphis Medical News "Leaders in Healthcare" series.

Click here to read the article.

Congressional Budget Office Issues Finding on Senate Finance Health Reform

CBO issues finding that Baucus bill results in $81 billion REDUCTION in the Federal deficit in 2010-2019. CBO letter is a good outline of the Finance Committee's final bill as well as the financial implications.

Click here to read the CBO letter

Update on 10.02.09 Senate Finance Committee Health Reform

Get the latest on Senate Finance Committee legislation from Business Insurance/Reuters
http://ping.fm/Z9VQd

Four Reasons Why Meaningful Health Reform is Unlikely To Pass This Year - healthplans.hcpro.com

According to Les Masterson the reasons include:

There aren't enough uninsured (although this could change)
There aren't enough doctors to care for 47 million uninsured
Public option will pay docs less
Public won't support taxes to pay for reform

Four Reasons Why Meaningful Health Reform is Unlikely To Pass This Year - healthplans.hcpro.com

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MBGH Releases Guide to Planning & Implementing a Worksite H1N1 Program

Get answers to key questions about planning & implementing a worksite H1N1 program including:

Who should receive the H1N1 vaccine?
How does an employer obtain the H1N1 vaccine for the worksite?
What are the key messages employers should share with employees?
How should sick leave & other policies be adapted?
Are their special contamination & cleaning processes that should be implemented?
Where are credible resources for additional information?


MBGH Reports Worksite H1N1 Program Complete