U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

Federal Employees Health Benefits (FEHB) Program Health Information Technology and Price/Cost Transparency Leaders

Over the past few years, OPM has encouraged FEHB health benefits plans to increase their use of health information technology (HIT). HIT can help your health plan and healthcare providers deliver safer more efficient care. Using HIT, your health plan can offer you tools to help you organize your health information, access information targeted to your health needs, and determine the quality and price/cost of the doctors, hospitals and other providers that you and your family use for day-to-day healthcare needs.

HIT based on broadly accepted standards, allows patients, healthcare providers and health plans to share information securely, driving down costs by avoiding duplicate procedures and manual transactions. More importantly, HIT reduces medical errors; for instance, from misread handwritten prescriptions, and emergency care medical decisions made without complete and accurate health information. HIT can also help you find appropriate health information to aid you and your doctor in making appropriate clinical decisions regarding your care. Since privacy and security considerations are vitally important, safeguards have been established to keep your records safe from inappropriate disclosure.

Personal Health Records

The health plans listed below have made a commitment to offer you and your family access to internet based personal health records (PHR). PHRs come in a variety of forms but what they all have in common is that they give you a convenient way to track, view, and manage your personal health information. PHRs also allow you to share your health information with your healthcare providers so they have a better picture of your health history. When providers know your health history they can make more accurate diagnoses and provide you with safer more efficient care.

Quality and Price/Cost Transparency On-line Tools

The health plans listed here have also made a commitment to offer you and your family access to healthcare quality and price/cost information so you can make more informed choices on which providers to use to receive care. The web site information available includes online decision tools with cost estimators and quality indicators for physician and hospital services and prescription drugs used to treat common or chronic illnesses and conditions. These health plans describe the sources of this health information and any limitations so you can understand what the information means. Some examples of the types of surgical procedures for which you can obtain cost and quality information include: arthroscopy knee/shoulder, breast biopsy, cataract repair, cesarean delivery, colonoscopy, corneal surgery, gall bladder removal, heart catheterization, hysterectomy, inguinal hernia repair, knee replacement, and tonsillectomy. This information helps you understand the true price/cost and quality of your healthcare and enhances your ability to compare hospital, physician, prescription and other provider value as you make healthcare choices. FEHB health plans are working to expand the price/cost and quality information they provide to you.

The health plans listed on this page met OPM's HIT, quality and price/cost transparency standards at the time this Guide went to press. As other plans bring these tools on line, we will add them to the list on our website. So, please check the updated information at www.opm.gov/insure before you make your healthcare decisions.

The following health plans have demonstrated their commitment to efficiency, safety and quality through computer system enhancements that offer PHRs, quality information, and price/cost transparency decision support tools:

Aetna Health Plans	HealthPlus of Michigan
Altius Health Plans	HIP Health Plan of New York
Anthem Blue Cross HMO	HMO Health Ohio
APWU Health Plans	Humana Health Plans
AvMed Health Plans	Independent Health Association
BlueCross BlueShield Government Wide Service Benefit Plan	Kaiser Foundation Health Plans
Blue Cross & Blue Shield of RI	KPS Health Plans
CareFirst BlueChoice, Inc	Mail Handlers Benefit Plan
ConnectiCare, Inc	M.D. IPA
Coventry Health Care Plans	Medica Health Plans
Blue Care Network of Michigan	MVP Health Care, Inc.
Blue Preferred HMO	NALC Health Benefit Plan
Geisinger Health Plan	Optima Health
GHI Health Plan	PacifiCare Health Plans
Government Employees Health Association, Inc. (GEHA)	PersonalCare of Illinois
Group Health Plan	Physicians Health Plan of Northern Indiana, Inc.
Health Alliance Plan (HAP)	Preferred Care
Health America Pennsylvania	SAMBA
Health Net of Arizona, Inc.	UniCare Health Plans of the Midwest, Inc.
Health Net of California	UnitedHealthcare (except the River Valley, Inc. in Iowa and Illinois)
HealthPartners, Inc.	UPMC Health Plan