Information:
Daniel Danzig, IHA
925-254-6078
INTEGRATED HEALTHCARE ASSOCIATION RECEIVES GRANT TO FUND PROJECT TO
IMPROVE ADOPTION AND USE OF NEW MEDICAL DEVICES
OAKLAND, Calif., May 22, 2006– The Integrated Healthcare
Association (IHA) today announced receipt of a $675,000 grant from the Blue
Shield of California Foundation to launch a pilot project that will help
healthcare providers select medical
devices more efficiently.
IHA’s two-year demonstration
project in Southern California will focus on improving data collection,
enhancing transparency of information, and establishing quality benchmarks for
orthopedic and cardiac medical devices.
“There’s a lack of
information on the comparative value of most new and existing medical
devices,” said Bart Asner, M.D., CEO of Monarch HealthCare, a prominent Orange
County physician organization, and an IHA board member.
“Hospitals and doctors are often in the dark when trying to choose the
most appropriate devices for their patients and make value-based buying
decisions.”
Building on its successful “Pay
for Performance” program – which helps providers align financial incentives
with improvements in the efficiency and quality of care – IHA will begin
collecting data this fall on the use of medical devices from hospital systems
and physician organizations. The
project will identify ways that providers and health insurers can purchase these
technologies more efficiently, assure high quality, and
provide useful information about these products for payers and patients.
“Ultimately our goal is
achieving superior quality, safety, and efficiency in the adoption and use of
these devices,” said Tom Williams, executive director of IHA.
“The project will build on IHA’s successful collaboration among
hospitals, physician organizations, and health insurance plans.”
Memorial HealthCare Medical Centers, representing six hospitals, and
Monarch HealthCare IPA, representing 1900 physicians, have already agreed to
participate, and several health plans have expressed interest in joining the
project.
“The IHA project is important
because more information and better incentives are needed to help providers make
evidence-based decisions,” said Lisa Payne Simon, director of the Blue Shield
of California Foundation’s health and technology program (www.blueshieldcafoundation.org).
Widely used medical devices such
as hip replacements and cardiac stents can be not only life-saving, but also
expensive.
“Collaboration will drive this
program’s success,” said Barry Arbuckle, Ph.D., president and CEO of
MemorialCare Medical Centers and an IHA board member. “IHA’s project aims to improve quality and control
spiraling health care costs by gathering the information needed to help
providers more efficiently select the right products for the right patients,”
he said. “When hospitals and
doctors cooperate, consumers are the winners.”
About the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA)
IHA (www.iha.org) is a nonprofit statewide collaborative leadership group of California health plans, medical groups, and health care systems, plus academic, consumer, purchaser, pharmaceutical, and technology representatives. By engaging the various sectors of healthcare delivery in dialogue and collective action, IHA promotes breakthrough quality improvement, accountability, and affordability of healthcare for all Californians.
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