Subject(s)
Cost-Benefit Analysis , Health Care Rationing/methods , Humans , Models, Statistical , United StatesABSTRACT
Banner Health consists of 19 hospitals, 6 long-term care centers and a number of family health clinics, home care programs, and home medical equipment providers in 9 Western and Midwestern states. Banner Health has developed an integrated organization-wide effort called Care Management to simultaneously address quality and safety, reduce patient errors, and measure and report performance, outcomes, and patient satisfaction, while controlling costs through utilization management, care coordination, and performance improvement. Eleven functional areas were identified and more than 36 cross-functional and cross-facility work groups have been created. These work groups use a deliberate process in which knowledge is created, reviewed, synthesized, distributed, taught, and implemented within the system. Key lessons after the first 2 years of this effort are as follows: information sharing and collegial support can be established within newly merged organizations; there must be continued enhancement of both the accuracy and timeliness of data; the ability of health care professionals to understand and use sophisticated statistical tools has increased; a variety of methods should be used to distribute the knowledge products; and the strategy to have functional teams and work groups develop systemwide policies and toolkits but leave implementation to facility employees has worked relatively well.
Subject(s)
Multi-Institutional Systems/organization & administration , Quality Assurance, Health Care/methods , Consumer Behavior , Efficiency, Organizational , Humans , Multi-Institutional Systems/standards , Organizational Case Studies , Quality Assurance, Health Care/standards , United StatesABSTRACT
Strategic health authorities can learn a lot about strategic vision from Arizona's healthcare cost containment system. The Arizona commissioners have greater power than primary care trusts to push through new and more effective models of community care. Commissioner/provider relations can be fraught as health plans hold out for big discounts.
Subject(s)
Community Health Planning/organization & administration , Medicaid/organization & administration , Medicare/organization & administration , Primary Health Care/organization & administration , State Health Plans/organization & administration , Arizona , Community Health Planning/economics , Cost Control , Primary Health Care/economics , State Health Plans/economics , State Medicine/organization & administration , United StatesABSTRACT
Managed care organizations face distrust from public policy-makers, the media, and other public stakeholders. To succeed, the managed care industry must work to restore trust in their approach to healthcare delivery. A variety of strategies are presented as ways to mitigate the public's distrust of the managed care industry.
Subject(s)
Attitude of Health Personnel , Attitude to Health , Consumer Behavior , Managed Care Programs/organization & administration , Public Opinion , Trust , Clinical Competence , Confidentiality , Humans , Information Dissemination , Managed Care Programs/standards , Organizational Objectives , Public Relations , Quality Assurance, Health Care , United StatesABSTRACT
Physicians have lost their trust in managed care plans because of perceived deficits in competency, concern, choice, confidentiality, and communications. To succeed in a market-driven healthcare system, managed care plans must work to restore that trust. A variety of strategies are proposed to address physician concerns related to these 5 domains of trust. Although no single strategy will restore trust, a combination can improve the relationship with these important stakeholders.
Subject(s)
Attitude of Health Personnel , Managed Care Programs/standards , Physicians/psychology , Trust , Communication , Confidentiality , Humans , Professional Autonomy , Professional Competence , United StatesABSTRACT
Managed care organizations face distrust from patients, many of whom believe the organizations disregard their interests. To succeed in a market-driven healthcare system, managed care plans must work to restore that trust. A variety of strategies are presented to restore patient trust. The next 2 articles of this 3-part series will examine trust-building strategies targeted at physicians and public stakeholders.
