NAM: Employers drive healthcare quality improvements

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Manufacturing News, Source : The Manufacturer US
Published : 09 May 2007 17:24

The National Association of Manufacturers (NAM), as a member of the Partnership for Value-Driven Health Care, announced today significant progress toward changing the marketplace and the way US consumers access information on healthcare quality and cost—a milestone in the move toward greater transparency. Approximately 775 employers, including almost half of the top 200 US corporations, many of which are NAM members, have committed to the value-driven healthcare movement.

The value-driven healthcare initiative was launched by Secretary Michael Leavitt of the US Department of Health & Human Services. Leavitt challenged employers to implement the “cornerstones of value-driven healthcare”: utilizing health information technology; measuring and publishing quality and price information; and creating positive incentives for high-quality, efficient healthcare.

In less than a year, the development of the initiative has driven employers, unions, and federal, state, and local governments to commit their health plans to provide useful information to consumers about the quality and cost of care delivered by doctors, hospitals, and other providers. During a roundtable discussion with Partnership

members, Leavitt announced that over 100 million people are now covered by plans committed to the program.

“We are organizing the healthcare market to achieve better quality healthcare, at lower cost, for all Americans. That is the definition of value,” Leavitt said. “Yet until now, our healthcare system has been marked by a lack of information to support value-based decisions. Consumers have extensive information to help them make good choices when they buy cars or get mortgages. But when it comes to choices about their healthcare, little information about quality or cost has been available. The purpose of the value-driven healthcare movement is to make that information available, and then reward people for using it.”

In praising the effort, NAM Director of Health Policy Brian Maloney said, “The high number of NAM member companies that have signed on to the Value-Driven Health Care initiative demonstrates the leadership role manufacturers are taking in providing cost and quality data to their employees.

“We look forward to expanding this effort to advance transparency throughout the healthcare system,” Maloney added.

Leavitt discussed the employer’s critical role in paving the way toward high-quality, affordable care in a recent interview on “America’s Business,” the NAM radio program that explores issues that shape manufacturing and business in the US and abroad. A copy of the segment is available at www.nam.org/americasbusiness.

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