QUALITY MATTERS
HealthPartners pioneered the use of composite measures 10 years ago. By focusing on a more comprehensive array of care to measure quality, we deliver better care to our members and better cost trends to you.
So it’s no surprise that the Institute of Medicine and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement have singled out HealthPartners and our composite measures as a basis for new national health care performance standards.
We’ve proven that quality matters – and that the right measurements can deliver better care and bigger savings.
Take diabetes for example
- We measure five areas to ensure optimal care – blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar levels, aspirin use and tobacco use.
- More than 20% of HealthPartners members meet all five goals; 50% meet four or more. That’s nearly 40% higher than the state average!
- That translates to 80 fewer heart attacks, 120 fewer amputations and 320 fewer eye complications than 10 years ago.
Optimal care for a single diabetes case cost about $5,000 per year – unchecked those same costs can be $45,000. That can have a huge impact on your bottom line.
And we see similar results for other health issues. Our optimal care measures have helped reduce the number of heart disease deaths in Minnesota by about 4,000 per year.
Better quality measurement ensures better care – and provides real savings. And now, you’ll be seeing these same composite measurements become more standard throughout the country.
To learn more:
HEALTHY BOTTOM LINE
Shrinking waistlines and expanding your bottom line
Obese adults have 36% higher average annual medical expenditures than those at a healthy weight; and, they’re more likely to miss work.
Modest changes can make a big difference. Just increasing physical activity to 90 minutes a week can reduce annual medical costs by about $2,000.
HealthPartners AchieveSM health improvement programs include easy, effective weight management solutions with a healthy return on investment for your company – as high as 3:1!
To help your employees lose weight and save on health care costs :
- 10,000 Steps® Lose Weight program helps increase activity by tracking the number of the steps a person takes each day. Participants get a pedometer to count steps (and other activity, too!), an online account to track progress and motivational support to achieve success. On average, people who complete the 10,000 Steps program see $280 reduction in claims.
- Our Frequent Fitness program rewards people for working out regularly with a discount on monthly club membership fees at more than 60 locations.
- Healthy Discounts give HealthPartners members exclusive money-saving offers at popular retailers – including Weight Watchers online program, local meetings, At Work and At Home kits.
- A Call to Change … Healthy Lifestyles, Healthy Weight® is phone-based, one-on-one counseling to help people set and reach their weight loss goals. On average, participants lose 13 pounds through this program!
Click here to learn more about how and your employees can get healthy results.
HOW WE ADD VALUE
CareSpan pays off with healthy returns
Pat was diagnosed with diabetes and didn’t know where to turn. Fortunately, her doctor referred her to HealthPartners CareSpanSM disease management program. Now Pat has the help of a nurse case manager to coordinate her care and give her personalized attention to better understand and manage her condition before it gets worse.
And it doesn’t cost Pat or her employer anything extra.
Our sophisticated early identification systems help us identify members' health risks up to two years before they result in new disease and generate claims. This is early enough to reverse some of the risks and prevent the need for unnecessary and costly care – with ROI ranging from 1.5:1 for diabetes to 3:1 for congestive heart failure.
HealthPartners CareSpan programs cover a wide range of chronic diseases and conditions including:
- asthma
- behavioral health disorders
- chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
- coronary artery disease (CAD)
- depression
- diabetes
- heart failure
- kidney diseases
- obesity
- rare and chronic diseases (amyotropic lateral sclerosis, chronic idiopathic demyelinating polyneuropathy, cystic fibrosis, dermatomyositis, Gaucher’s disease, hemophilia, multiple sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, Parkinson’s disease, polymyositis, rheumatoid arthritis, sickle cell disease, systemic lupus erythematosus, systemic sclerosis)
Talk to your consultant or HealthPartners sales representative for more information.
HEADLINES
Your free Jump Start is coming
Need help motivating employees about their health? Give them a free Jump Start, coming in February for HealthPartners members.
And there’s no cost and no extra work for you!
Next month, we’ll supply easy-to-use promotional materials so you can encourage your employees to get their free Jump Start. All they need to do is:
- Set up a free personal account at healthpartners.com to get instant access to their free Jump Start.
- Take a confidential online health assessment to get a health potential score and personal action plan.
- Enjoy free HealthPartners 10,000 Steps membership – including a pedometer and online account to track their healthy progress.
It’s just another benefit you get for choosing HealthPartners – a fast, simple way to promote better health. Learn more – and pre-register today – at healthpartners.com/jumpstart. And stay tuned for more information in February.
Compare providers on quality and cost online
When you shop for a car, you can look up all kinds of quality information and do side-by-side comparisons of different models. Why can’t you do the same thing when choosing a doctor? Now you can.
Your employees can be even savvier health care consumers with easy-to-use Consumer Tools section at healthpartners.com.
- Get quality and cost ratings. Search for a doctor or and view cost and quality ratings based on patient satisfaction surveys, annual quality data and overall cost of care.
- See how providers compare. Compare the quality and cost measures for up to four providers based on criteria that is most important to you – from effectiveness treating illness to waiting times in the reception area and exam room.
- Pick a Best Choice provider. See what clinics and hospitals provide best quality at the best price. Use the “Find a Clinic or Hospital” search and look for the Best Choice tab in the results.
Ever wish your employees didn’t have to leave work for routine doctor visits? Now HealthPartners covers e-visits from select network providers for fully and self-insured commercial business as the second phase of an e-visit pilot program.
This new pilot will help us evaluate e-visit impact upon cost, quality, productivity and satisfaction. Initial pilots conducted at HealthPartners Clinics and other participating provider groups indicate the volume of e-visits is typically very small, with a handful of patients using the service. We also learned that e-visits did not represent duplication of service.
In phase two, we expect utilization will remain low, with early adopters being those consumers interested in greater convenience and enhanced provider communications. Regular office visit co-pays, deductibles or co-insurance apply to e-visits. As a part of the e-visit provider registration process, members will be alerted to any cost sharing requirements so that they have a full understanding prior to receiving their e-visit.
We’ll be reporting back on the findings from this pilot later in the year. For more information, including a list of participating providers, click here.
MyChart expands at HealthPartners Clinics
Looking for a way to increase productivity at work? What if your employees didn’t have to spend work time chasing down health care information – like their kids’ immunization records or test results.
Now they can get their health care information online anytime with the new MyChart from HealthPartners Clinics.
Expanding on the success of online appointment scheduling, HealthPartners Clinics have added more online features with MyChart – including access to lab results, immunization records and e-visits. Just set up an account at healthpartners.com/clinics and you’re on your way. HealthPartners Clinics have more than 22 convenient locations and now, even more great care right at your fingertips.
Save big on orthodontic care
If you have HealthPartners Dental coverage, your employees will be smiling about our new orthodontic discount. HealthPartners Dental members can now get 20% off orthodontic services at Orthodontic Care Specialists.
Members with comprehensive dental plan coverage just need to show their dental member card at any of the 19 Orthodontic Care Specialists locations.
Unfortunately, the discount is not retroactive – it only applies to cases initiated after January 1, 2006. And it is not available to members with medical preventive dental coverage.
Big savings on orthodontic care – one more reason you should have dental coverage from HealthPartners, too.
LIBRARY: QUICK LINKS TO GREAT RESOURCES
Our Group Medical Plans
Our Group Dental Plans
Our AchieveSM Health Improvement Programs
Our CareSpanSM Disease Management Programs
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