Wednesday, July 20, 2005
CDHC and the Internet make for a great combination
["Hunting For Hospitals That Measure Up," Business Week, 13 June 2005.]
In a recent op-ed for The Flint Hills Center, Greg Scandlen had this to say about the way consumer-driven health care will impact the marketplace:
Now that people control their own resources, they will demand reliable information they can use to make good decisions.
There is a new world dawning. Employers, insurers and providers all will rethink the way they do business. As a result, the next 10 years likely will change our health care system forever, and for the better.
His prediction is already coming true:
[T]he Internet's role in health care is reaching a new stage. The 1990s brought general information sites such as WebMD and DrKoop.com. Now Subimo and a host of services provide specific data people can use to help them choose hospitals, doctors, and health plans. In April, Medicare launched its own site, Hospital Compare. Health Grades, based in Golden, Colo., offers detailed reports tracking performance in seven specialties from heart care to orthopedics at HealthGrades.com. The new sites use various grading systems, from HealthGrades' star-based ratings to Subimo's 0-to-100 scale, to simplify databases full of information, adjust hospitals' complication and mortality rates for the difficulty of the cases they treat, and let consumers turn a once-overwhelming decision into something they can handle confidently.
"These sites are a major, major step because people have not had access to any significant information about hospitals before," says Dr. Barry Straube, acting chief medical officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in Baltimore.
According to a survey by Solucient, a health-care data services company, 26% of adult consumers say they're "very likely" to use data on hospital quality. Two-thirds say they would switch hospitals over their doctor's objections to go to an excellent facility or avoid a below-average one.
To get the most out of resources such as these, use them in addition to consulting with your doctor and reviewing the medical literature. Most hospitals will have their medical library do research in journals or on the Web for patients -- if you know to ask for it. One of the most comprehensive health-education sites is Medline Plus, run by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (medlineplus.gov). Insurers, too, can be valuable resources. Many make nurses available to help patients interpret hospital-rating data, says UnitedHealthcare Executive Vice-President Dr. Lewis Sandy. "In addition to looking at Web sites, pick up the phone," he says.
The Net is emerging as a huge help in disseminating data on quality of care, reflecting a still-developing consensus on how to measure quality in the first place. The payoff: smarter consumers more in charge of their own care -- increasingly vital since changes to insurance plans mean patients are footing more of the bill. Not all doctors or hospitals like it. But they had better get used to it.
[Greg Scandlen, "Choice is revolutionizing health care," The Wichita Eagle, 28 September 2004.]
["Hunting For Hospitals That Measure Up," Business Week, 13 June 2005.]
In a recent op-ed for The Flint Hills Center, Greg Scandlen had this to say about the way consumer-driven health care will impact the marketplace:
Now that people control their own resources, they will demand reliable information they can use to make good decisions.
There is a new world dawning. Employers, insurers and providers all will rethink the way they do business. As a result, the next 10 years likely will change our health care system forever, and for the better.
His prediction is already coming true:
[T]he Internet's role in health care is reaching a new stage. The 1990s brought general information sites such as WebMD and DrKoop.com. Now Subimo and a host of services provide specific data people can use to help them choose hospitals, doctors, and health plans. In April, Medicare launched its own site, Hospital Compare. Health Grades, based in Golden, Colo., offers detailed reports tracking performance in seven specialties from heart care to orthopedics at HealthGrades.com. The new sites use various grading systems, from HealthGrades' star-based ratings to Subimo's 0-to-100 scale, to simplify databases full of information, adjust hospitals' complication and mortality rates for the difficulty of the cases they treat, and let consumers turn a once-overwhelming decision into something they can handle confidently.
"These sites are a major, major step because people have not had access to any significant information about hospitals before," says Dr. Barry Straube, acting chief medical officer for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services in Baltimore.
According to a survey by Solucient, a health-care data services company, 26% of adult consumers say they're "very likely" to use data on hospital quality. Two-thirds say they would switch hospitals over their doctor's objections to go to an excellent facility or avoid a below-average one.
To get the most out of resources such as these, use them in addition to consulting with your doctor and reviewing the medical literature. Most hospitals will have their medical library do research in journals or on the Web for patients -- if you know to ask for it. One of the most comprehensive health-education sites is Medline Plus, run by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (medlineplus.gov). Insurers, too, can be valuable resources. Many make nurses available to help patients interpret hospital-rating data, says UnitedHealthcare Executive Vice-President Dr. Lewis Sandy. "In addition to looking at Web sites, pick up the phone," he says.
The Net is emerging as a huge help in disseminating data on quality of care, reflecting a still-developing consensus on how to measure quality in the first place. The payoff: smarter consumers more in charge of their own care -- increasingly vital since changes to insurance plans mean patients are footing more of the bill. Not all doctors or hospitals like it. But they had better get used to it.
[Greg Scandlen, "Choice is revolutionizing health care," The Wichita Eagle, 28 September 2004.]
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