Regence Foundation In the News
Regence grant supports delivering quality data to patients
Beyond access: informed consumers key to health care quality improvements
Portland, Ore. — Lives are at stake when we don’t know what we don’t know about our health care. That is why The Regence Foundation made a $45,000 grant to help create a consumer-oriented Web site operated by Partner for Quality Care, a project of the Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation (Quality Corp).
“Most people don’t have any idea of health care quality beyond getting an appointment,” said Ralph Prows, M.D., Quality Corp board chairman, and medical director at Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon. “We have to find a way to activate them and help them know who’s doing a good job.”
The Regence Foundation grant – one of three technology grants awarded in July – will help Partner for Quality Care develop a Web site that will bring together existing sources of quality information and the organization’s own research data on provider quality. The site will be launched later this year and will offer:
- Resources for the public about what health care quality is and how they can get it
- Existing quality data regarding hospitals and nursing homes
- Links to other credible health resources
- Tips on how to evaluate online health information
In late 2009 the Web site will also house data about how clinics in Oregon perform on 10 different measures of quality care. The data will offer the public and providers alike a frame of reference for whether performance meets care standards set by specific medical specialties.
“Most people just focus on access, but access to what?” Prows asked. “A health care system that kills 100,000 people a year by mistake? That’s more people than die in motor vehicle accidents. Putting quality information in consumer hands helps them choose better care.”
The Regence Foundation is providing funding to Partner for Quality Care because it shares the Foundation’s values of leveraging technology to heighten both provider and patient awareness of quality issues that will result in improved outcomes and streamlined use of medical services.
“The Alliance’s secure Web portal project aligns perfectly with the Foundation’s goal to leverage innovative technology as a way to improve health care quality and to promote positive transformation of the health care system,” said Alexander.
About The Regence Foundation
he Regence Foundation is the corporate foundation of The Regence Group, the largest health insurer in the Northwest/Intermountain region and a not-for-profit independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. A 501(c)3 grantmaking organization, the Foundation partners with organizations driving significant change in health care delivery and accessibility in Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Washington. Starting in late 2008, the Foundation will also partner with organizations addressing end-of-life issues.
About Partner for Quality Care: Information for a Healthy Oregon
Partner for Quality Care: Information for a Healthy Oregon is a project of the Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation, a collaborative 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization focused on improving the quality of health care in Oregon. The priority of the project is to promote the availability and use of understandable quality information to inform decision-making and stimulate cooperation among all health care stakeholders.
The Regence Group is a not-for-profit independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.
© 2009 The Regence Foundation. All rights reserved.