| OCR Text |
Show •Lack of general agreement about the types of indicators or data needed by consumers and policy makers; •The unknown cost to health plans to provide HEDIS data; •Varying ability of health plans to provide the needed data and variations in data quality; •The lack of risk-adjustment methodology for comparative reporting; and •Disagreement about the adequacy of current measures in measuring overall health plan performance. The idea (proposed by the Office of Health Data Analysis, Utah Department of Health, 801-538-7048) of a voluntary statewide cooperative project as a "field test" to document and solve many of the problems mentioned above is being discussed by the Q-TAG and interested parties at this writing. This project would precede the implementation of ongoing administrative rules, and would focus on building valuable partnerships with data suppliers, such as managed care organizations as well as data users, such as policy makers, purchasers, and consumers (Love, 1995). The Utah Department of Health's Office of Health Data Analysis (OHDA) is gearing up to collect health care data from many sources, including ambulatory care encounter data. These will be used in an ongoing quality assurance/improvement project designed to help monitor the effectiveness of health care reform efforts in Utah, and to identify trends in care which may benefit from cooperative quality improvement efforts. This project will be done in cooperation with a public/private quality improvement organization to be contracted, when funding is arranged, by the Utah Department of Health. This office has already released reports on hospital utilization, behavioral-based preventable diseases, patient severity, hospital charges and lengths of stay, mental diseases and disorders, and hospitalizations for conditions related to lifestyle or behavior. It also has hospital financial performance data. The Office of Public Health Data (OPHD, 801-538-6108), also part of the Department of Health's Health Systems Reform Team, will be releasing regular reports on the health status of Utahns, which can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of our health system as well. Reports from accreditors, health plans, and individual health care entities will become more and more common. Consumers of all types will have an opportunity to compare and contrast, as well as evaluate, the health care available to them. Therein lies some danger, as quantity does not necessarily denote quality. The preparation of value-added health care report cards must be the main focus; this will require objectivity, creativity, and hard work on the part of all involved. The challenge is to integrate data from various sources into meaningful reports. Report cards will not only be hard copies, but information will be available to consumers on the Internet. The Office of Health Data Analysis has an interactive home page on the Internet now, and the Bureau of Emergency Medical Services is developing one. In addition, consumer-oriented templates with icon-driven selections are being developed for hospital discharge data. The Utah Department of Health wants to help shape the community of those interested in quality, participate in developing the methods and infrastructure, participate in standardizing information, facilitate improvement by providing information and technical assistance, as well as its accustomed role of protecting the public by enforcing the basic standards set by rule and regulation. It wishes to be an active participant in developing public/private partnerships around enhancing the value of health care delivered in Utah. Laura Polacheck, Senior Analyst with the American Association of Retired Persons Public Policy Institute, made the following comments in a 1994 report entitled, "The Consumer Information Research Burden" (AARP Public Policy Institute, 1994): Consumer information is not only vital to the individual, but vital as a means to regulate the fairness and efficiency of the marketplace. Information is power for consumers when it is accessible, understandable, and usable without an unreasonable research burden. Report cards which accurately measure the value of the health care delivered in Utah have the potential to stimulate efficiency, innovation, effectiveness, and honesty in the health care market - all viable goals of our health system improvement effort. This challenge has not yet been met, but activities are underway to achieve success in this effort. Utah's Health: An Annual Review 1995 15 |
