Contact: Dennis Tartaglia/Dana Kopp(212) 481-7000
NEW WEBSITE, WWW.ABOUTHEALTHQUALITY.ORG, OFFERS COMPREHENSIVE, INTERACTIVE RESOURCE ON HEALTH QUALITY IN NEW YORK, NEW JERSEY, CONNECTICUT
Health Accountability Foundation Launches Site, Enabling Consumers to Develop Customized Healthcare Performance Reports
NEW YORK, N.Y., May 30, 2001 -- A new interactive web site that enables consumers to create customized performance reports on health plans, physicians, and hospitals has been launched by the New York State Health Accountability Foundation. The site, www.abouthealthquality.org, also helps users to evaluate caregivers' management of chronic diseases such as asthma and diabetes.
"Consumers need ways to understand information on the quality of healthcare they receive," said Theodore O. Will, Executive Vice President for IPRO, an independent organization that evaluates the quality of health services. "This innovative site provides them with a single, easy-to-use source of reliable and valid performance data that will help them make informed decisions."
The site features three interactive modules and three additional sources of quality information for residents of New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut:
Compare Your Care. Developed by the nationally recognized Foundation for Accountability (FACCT) and debuting on abouthealthquality.org, Compare Your Care is a set of web-based tools that help consumers understand healthcare quality and how to work with their doctor to ensure they are getting the best care.
Compare Health Plans. This database enables consumers to compare performance of health plans throughout the New York metropolitan area. Content is provided by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), the not-for-profit organization that provides accreditation for and evaluates the performance of health plans nationwide.
Compare Providers. The number of times a procedure has been done is one important factor consumers should look at when deciding where, and with whom, to have a surgical procedure. This database, developed by the Center for Medical Consumers, a not-for-profit advocacy organization, provides information on the number of certain procedures done by each physician and hospital in New York State.
HMO Report Card. www.abouthealthquality.org features the Foundation's report card on commercial HMOs in New York, in an easy-to-understand graphic format. The report card presents a number of independently validated measures on quality and access to care, from audited data submitted by the HMOs to the New York State Department of Health.
How to File an Appeal. Consumer-friendly information on how to file an appeal of a health plan denial in New York, Connecticut, and New Jersey.
Links. www.abouthealthquality.org links to a number of useful sites that feature public access data on health quality.
"The employers we work with are looking for ways to get the most value for their healthcare dollar," said Laurel Pickering, Executive Director, New York Business Group on Health, a not-for-profit employer coalition that is New York's leading forum for corporate health policy and information. "This site helps them factor quality into the purchasing decision and provide an invaluable service to their employees."
One goal of the Health Accountability Foundation is to disseminate quality information as widely as possible, by reaching out directly to consumers and employers throughout the region. "I encourage businesses to make their employees aware of the site, and to link to the site, as we have already done," said William Shanahan, Vice President, Human Resources, TIAA-CREF and a member of the Foundation's steering committee. "The site represents an information resource that any employer, including those who are considering taking a defined contribution approach to health benefits, should provide for employees."
The Foundation is a private-public partnership dedicated to healthcare quality improvement and founded by IPRO, the New York Business Group on Health, and major New York employers. In addition to Shanahan, the Foundation's employer steering committee currently includes Andrew Loyst, Director of Global Benefits, Vivendi Universal, and Tammy Bakos, Specialist, Benefit Strategy and Design, Verizon Communications.
The site's interactive modules can also be accessed on www.nyshaf.org, the Health Accountability Foundation's website.
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