Table 1. Employer Purchasing Initiatives
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Whom Do They What Do They Where Do They How Do They
Target? Want to Know? Get It? Communicate It?
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Health plans
General Motors, Patient satisfaction, HEDIS 2.5-3.0, con- Report cards on
Digital, GTE, incidence of early sulting firms, NCQA plans (mainly
Pacific Business intervention, preven- accreditation, site satisfaction
Group on Health, tive care measures, visits, satisfaction data), Internet
Gateway Purchas- health outcomes, surveys (will use
ing Assoc., Chi- accessibility of care CAHPS® when
cago Business available), FACCT
Group on Health
Health care systems
Buyer's Health Patient satisfaction, Practice guidelines, Profiles of care
Care Action health outcomes, FACCT, surveys systems accessible
Group(1) (Minne- willingness to to consumers at
apolis-St. Paul), provide quality data kiosks in work-
Community Health place, commercial
Purchasing Cor- settings; Internet
poration (Central
Iowa)
Hospitals
Dallas-Ft. Worth Conformance with best Critical pathways, Report cards on
Business Group on practices, clinical JCAHO, system ven- hospitals in
Health, Health outcomes (risk- dors (e.g., MediQual, Cleveland, St.
Action Council of adjusted mortality Apache) Louis, Tampa, etc.;
Northeastern rates, readmission planned in Dallas-
Ohio(1), Health rates, complication Ft. Worth
Care Cost Contain- rates)
ment Council
(PA)(1)
Physicians
Dallas-Ft. Worth Patient satisfaction, Physician value, Limited activity
Business Group on conformance with check survey, TMQC to date
Health, Pacific protocols, guidelines; accreditation, bench-
Business Group on experience, training; marking, physician
Health, Pacific incidence/resolution profiling reports
Bell of malpractice claims; from system vendors
clinical outcomes
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(1) Not profiled in this study.
NOTE: HEDIS=Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set, NCQA=National
Committee for Quality Assurance, CAHPS®=Consumer Assessment of Health Plans,
FACCT=Foundation for Accountability, JCAHO=Joint Commission on Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations, TMQC=The Medical Quality Commission.
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