Press Release

Manasquan, N.J., USA, March 31, 2006 – Savvy consumers have for years sought out comparative and quality data to inform their purchases of automobiles, electronics and even real estate. And they have recently begun applying these tactics to their consumption of healthcare, seeking out quality report cards on the health plans and providers they’re considering. To meet this need, many hospitals and health plans are cautiously compiling and posting quality and comparative data for constituents on organizational web sites, according to a February 2006 online survey sponsored by the Healthcare Intelligence Network (HIN).

Healthcare Report Cards: How Health Plans and Hospitals Use Data To Improve Care and Lower Costs examines the responses of the nearly 300 hospitals, health plans and consumers who shared with HIN their views on the application, quality and quantity of healthcare performance data available in the market today. The survey found that even while consumers clamor for more and better data, hospitals and health plans are adopting a prudent approach. Only about a third of hospital and health plan survey respondents post healthcare performance data today, while remaining respondents attribute their hesitancy to publish to a lack of time, corporate sponsorship, technical support and consistent and reliable performance measures. For more information about this report, please visit the HIN bookstore.

“While the reporting of healthcare quality data is mostly voluntary for now, health plans and hospitals are feeling government and consumer pressure to provide this data,” says Melanie Matthews, HIN executive vice president and chief operating officer. “Our study found that even if healthcare organizations are not yet posting this data on their web sites, they are planning to do so very soon. They are also distributing the data via other channels, including reports, meetings, payroll inserts and articles in the corporate and local press.”

The 10-page Healthcare Report Cards: How Health Plans and Hospitals Use Data to Improve Care and Lower Costs also contains suggestions and commentary from hospitals and health plans on:

• The performance and comparative measures they’re publishing;
• The impact that posting healthcare report cards has had on their organizations;
• Ideas for overcoming the obstacles to posting performance measures;
• Alternate channels of distribution for performance data; and
• Lessons learned from early adopters.

Also included are consumers’ reactions to currently available data and their suggestions for process improvement.

As the industry cautiously embraces this trend, most health plans and providers recognize that the practice will soon be a requisite for players in the healthcare marketplace. “Employers are requesting such data in RFPs,” said one health plan that responded to the survey. “Also, our company has adopted a policy of data transparency. We are working with contracting hospitals and physicians to share their performance information based on our plan data with nationally recognized measures. We offer links to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) sites,” the health plan added. For additional information on this report, please visit the HIN bookstore.

To track this trend and other quality-related ventures, HIN has launched a free weekly e-newsletter on quality improvement initiatives within the healthcare industry, from pay-for-performance programs to healthcare report cards to performance data reporting. Interested readers can click here to sign up.

About the Healthcare Intelligence Network---HIN is the premier advisory service for executives seeking high-quality strategic information on the business of healthcare. For more information, contact the Healthcare Intelligence Network, PO Box 1442, Wall Township, NJ 07719-1442, (888) 446-3530, fax (732) 292-3073, e-mail info@hin.com, or visit http://www.hin.com.

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Contact: Patricia Donovan

Voice: (888) HIN-3530
Fax: (732) 292-3073
E-mail: pdonovan@hin.com
Web site: www.hin.com