BHCAG underwrites quality commitment with cash
BHCAG underwrites quality commitment with cash
The 27 self-insured employers of the Buyers Health Care Action Group (BHCAG) pay more than lip service to quality of care for their workers. Recently, the Minneapolis-St. Paul, MN group put up $250,000 in prize money for their inaugural Excellence in Quality awards. Each company contributes a sum proportionate to the number of employees on the staff. The money goes into an escrow account created to fund the award.
Patricia Drury, MBA, senior consultant for quality measurement and consumer information for BHCAG notes that by putting their money where their collective mouth is, they make their quality commitment real. The winner of this year’s $100,000 Gold Award is St. Croix Valley HealthCare of Stillwater, MN. Additionally, three systems won $50,000 Silver Awards: Access Care System, HealthEast Care, and HealthPartners, all of which have sites scattered throughout the 11-county Twin City metro area.
• Application criteria include these points:
— completeness of preventive services to patients within the applicant’s consumer population;
— implementing and sustaining practice guidelines over time;
— consumer satisfaction feedback.
BHCAG’s extensive satisfaction surveys give consumers the opportunity to say whether they believe providers gave the appropriate amount of care. Drury says, "This helps us gauge the utilization rates. For example, if we see providers overutilizing services, they’re inclined to say that they were trying to satisfy consumers’ demands. But if consumer feedback says the provider seemed to push more services than necessary, then we know where the problem is."
Each of the 25 care systems — integrated groups of ambulatory and inpatient providers — that contract with BHCAG is eligible to apply. "But it can’t be just one clinic within a care system," Drury notes. "It has to be all the components within a care system."
• Judges include:
— health care benefits specialists from BHCAG members;
— independent physicians from the local community.
(For further details on BHCAG, see this month’s cover story.)
Subscribe Now for Access
You have reached your article limit for the month. We hope you found our articles both enjoyable and insightful. For information on new subscriptions, product trials, alternative billing arrangements or group and site discounts please call 800-688-2421. We look forward to having you as a long-term member of the Relias Media community.