More MS news articles for June 2000
Are Employees Indifferent to Health Care
Quality?
While there have been many complaints about the quality of managed health
care, a new study suggests that employees are partially to blame. The study
finds that employees:
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Rank accreditation status and clinical quality very low on their list of
important indicators.
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Do not trust information about their health plan's performance available
on the Internet or evaluations from participants, but do accept government
certification as a measure of quality.
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And are more concerned with whether their current physician is on their
health care plan than with the quality of the plan.
Because of this, the study argues that small companies will rarely, if
ever, use quality as a measure when purchasing health insurance. Rather
they will look solely at price. The study suggests simplifying information
on performance ratings and independently giving performance ratings on
critical care. It also recommends a national education effort on
health care quality.
Source: Mark W. Legnini, Laurie E. Rosenburg, Michael J. Perry, and
Neil J. Robertson, "Where Does Performance Measurement Go From Here?" Health
Affairs, May-June 2000.