Group Health Medical Centers to serve Medicaid Healthy Options patients in partnership with another health plan

January 20, 2012 — 2:13 pm

Group Health Cooperative declined to participate in the state bidding process for administering the Medicaid Healthy Options health plan, as the rules within the state’s new program were not crafted to work well with an integrated medical system, which combines health plan coverage with delivery of care.

Group Health intends to continue to provide medical care to Healthy Options patients in its medical centers in partnership with another health plan.

“We see our participation in Healthy Options and other state programs that serve low income populations as part of our mission,” said Pam MacEwan, vice president for public affairs and governance. “Group Health has participated in Healthy Options, the managed Medicaid program, and Basic Health, since the programs were created.”

The key issue with the state’s new rules for managed Medicaid is a provision that prevents health plans from limiting the number of enrollees they accept, because Group Health is both a health plan and a provider delivery system. The new rule would require Group Health providers to accept unlimited Medicaid enrollment. This would place Group Health providers outside the norm of other provider practices and create financial challenges and unsustainable risk for the organization. Group Health currently serves about 27,000 Health Options and Basic Health patients.

Group Health as not yet selected a health plan partner or partners. The new Healthy Options and Basic Health contract goes into effect July 1, 2012.

“We intend to continue to serve these patients in our medical centers. They will continue to have access to their online medical records and many other Group Health features that help all Group Health patients get timely care and live healthy lifestyles,” MacEwan said. “We will make every effort to create a seamless transition for patients as we move them to another health plan.”

Group Health App Updated with Key Time-Saving Features

January 5, 2012 — 10:57 am

Users of the Group Health mobile app will have convenient access to their child’s medical records and the ability to refill their own prescriptions via a smartphone.

With this update, parents of children 12 and under can check their child’s immunization record, make appointments, and email with their child’s doctor all on the go.  Group Health Members can also refill their prescription and have it sent to their home or pick it up in one of Group Health’s 25 medical centers.

Launched in August as a way to help our members have more convenient access to care, the app has been downloaded 22,168 times by Group Health members. In addition, the app was recently named Mobile App of the Year by the TechFlash Flashies Awards.

The free Group Health mobile app includes five key health features in addition to the new child medical record access and prescription updates:

  • Mobile access to medical records (including the ability to email your doctor, check test results, view visit summaries, check immunization histories and more),
  • Direct access to call or secure message a consulting nurse 24/7,
  • Wait times at all Group Health Medical Center Pharmacies and Labs
  • Maps to the nearest Group Health Medical Centers,
  • Comprehensive symptom checker.

Currently, the Group Health mobile app is available for iPhones in the app store and to Android users in the Android Market.

Group Health Welcomes First New Year’s Baby of 2012

January 1, 2012 — 2:58 pm

Who:     Viviana Nguyen

When:    4:48 a.m.

Weight:    7 pounds 16 ounces, 19 inches

Where:      Group Health Family Beginnings Childbirth Center, Seattle

Mom and Dad:  To Oanh Thi and Scott Nguyen

Viviana Nguyen, Group Health's First New Year's baby 2012

More:  
Group Health’s Family Beginnings Childbirth Center, located in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, is excited to welcome Viviana Nguyen to the elite Group Health New Year’s baby club. Viviana picked a special year, too. Group health is celebrating its 65th anniversary in 2012. To celebrate, mom received a basket full of local goods donated from business such as Molly Moons Ice Cream, Eltana Bagels and St. Clouds restaurant, as well as products and advice from the childbirth nurses at Group Health’s Family Beginnings.

However, we believe every baby born on New Year’s Day is special and throughout the day we are celebrating with food, gifts, and photos. Each baby born today gets a cute, green “Group Health New Year’s Baby” cap to keep their heads warm in the new year.

First baby mom, dad and grandma with their basket

Group Health Wins Mobile App of the Year Award

December 2, 2011 — 1:45 pm

Group Health walked away with Mobile App of the Year, last night Dec. 1, at the TechFlash 2011Newsmaker of the Year Awards, or “The Flashies,” sponsored by the Puget Sound Business Journal.

For the local tech community, “The Flashies” are billed as an event similar to the Oscars.

Baby got App? Sir-Mix-A-Lot and Colby Voorhees at the Flashies

“I was very honored to accept the award on behalf of Group Health, and our team, who worked so hard to make the app a reality,” said Group Health’s Terri Boehm, Director of Web Services. “Special thanks to Stacy McCauslin, manager of web user interface design, for her inspired design, and to Colby Voorhees, senior web consultant and mobile app project manager, for his clear vision and leadership.”

As an extra bonus, 90’s music artist, Sir-Mix-A-Lot awarded Boehm with the award. He told the crowd that he is also a Group Health member, and then shared a few anecdotes about his experience with the mobile app, which was competing with four local companies, including Alaska Airlines. The winners were based on the number of votes each nominee received online.

The Group Health mobile app is available for both iPhone and Android, giving members online services, such as sending secure e-mails, viewing lab results, and making appointments. For more information or to download the app, go to ghc.org/mobile.

Vote for the Group Health Mobile App

November 17, 2011 — 1:45 pm

The Group Health Mobile App has been nominated “Mobile App of the Year” for the TechFlash 2011 Newsmaker Awards, also known as “The Flashies”, and we need your help to win! Voting is open to everyone until Monday, Nov. 28. To vote, click here, and choose Group Health Mobile. Then, share the link with your friends and family who like the Group Health app. The winners will be announced Thursday, December 1.  

 

Group Health study finds yoga eases back pain

October 24, 2011 — 1:10 pm

Today the Archives of Internal Medicine published a Group Health study finding Yoga classes were linked to better back-related function and diminished symptoms from chronic low back pain, but so were intensive stretching classes. This was the largest U.S. randomized controlled trial of yoga to date.

“We found yoga classes more effective than a self-care book—but no more effective than stretching classes,” said study leader Karen J. Sherman, PhD, MPH, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute. Back-related function was better and symptoms were diminished with yoga at 12 weeks; and clinically important benefits, including less use of pain medications, lasted at least six months for both yoga and stretching, with thorough follow-up of more than nine in 10 participants.

In the trial, 228 adults in six cities in western Washington state were randomly assigned to 12 weekly 75-minute classes of either yoga or stretching exercises or a comprehensive self-care book called The Back Pain Helpbook. Nine in 10 of them were primary-care patients at Group Health Cooperative. Participants in the trial typically had moderate—not severe—back pain and relatively good mental health, and most had been at least somewhat active before the trial started.

The class participants received instructional videos and were encouraged to practice at home for 20 minutes a day between their weekly classes. Interviewers who didn’t know the patients’ treatment assignments assessed their back-related function and pain symptoms at six weeks, 12 weeks, and six months.

In 2005, Dr. Sherman and her colleagues conducted a smaller study that found yoga effective for easing chronic low back pain. “In our new trial,” she said, “we wanted both to confirm those results in a larger group and to see how yoga compared to a different form of exercise of comparable physical exertion: stretching.

Both the yoga and stretching classes emphasized the torso and legs:
•    The type of yoga used in the trial, called viniyoga, adapts the principles of yoga for each individual and physical condition, with modifications for people with physical limitations. The yoga classes also used breathing exercises, with a deep relaxation at the end.

•    The stretching classes used 15 different stretching exercises, including stretches of the hamstrings and hip flexors and rotators. Each was held for a minute and repeated once, for a total of 52 minutes of stretching. Strengthening exercises were also included.

“We expected back pain to ease more with yoga than with stretching, so our findings surprised us,” Dr. Sherman said. “The most straightforward interpretation of our findings would be that yoga’s benefits on back function and symptoms were largely physical, due to the stretching and strengthening of muscles.”

But the stretching classes included a lot more stretching than in most such classes, with each stretch held for a relatively long time. “People may have actually begun to relax more in the stretching classes than they would in a typical exercise class,” she added. “In retrospect, we realized that these stretching classes were a bit more like yoga than a more typical exercise program would be.” So the trial might have compared rather similar programs with each other.

“Our results suggest that both yoga and stretching can be good, safe options for people who are willing to try physical activity to relieve their moderate low back pain,” Dr. Sherman concluded. “But it’s important for the classes to be therapeutically oriented, geared for beginners, and taught by instructors who can modify postures for participants’ individual physical limitations.”

For more on the study and Dr. Sherman, please go to Group Health Research Institute.

 

Group Health Cooperative earns top Medicare 5-star rating for quality and service

October 19, 2011 — 2:24 pm

Group Health Cooperative Medicare Advantage HMO plans received five stars for 2012, the highest rating from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). It is the only health plan in the Group Health service area of western and eastern Washington state to earn the prestigious five 5-star ratings for both medical and prescription drug coverage.

Through the Medicare Star Quality Rating System, CMS assigns scores of one to five stars to Medicare plans based on 53 quality measures across five categories that include staying healthy, managing chronic conditions, member satisfaction, customer service, and pharmacy services.

“Our five-star rating reflects our efforts to make quality, convenient care a reality,” said Group Health President and CEO Scott Armstrong. “We have reduced unnecessary hospital readmission by spending more time with our patients and making sure each patient is getting the right follow-up care. Innovations like these make a difference in the lives of our patients and their families.”

Group Health Physicians President and Chief Medical Officer Michal Soman, MD, said

”Staff across the organization are continually seeking ways to reach out to our patients who need preventive care, answer coverage and billing questions, and resolve issues in ways that improve our members’ health and make their lives a little easier.”

The ratings provide Medicare beneficiaries with a tool to compare the quality of care and customer service that Medicare health and drug plans offer, helping consumers make better health care choices. The ratings are posted on CMS’s Website, www.healthcare.gov. Plan performance summary star ratings are assessed each year and may change from one year to the next.

Group Health Cooperative’s Medicare Advantage HMO plan was also recently ranked by National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) as among the best in the nation. NCQA announce that Group Health’s plan was the 14th highest rated out of 385 plans, according to the Health Insurance Plan Rankings 2011-2012-Medicare.

Group Health Mobile App Now Available for Android

October 4, 2011 — 7:00 am

iPhone version hits more than 10,000 downloads

The ground-breaking Group Health mobile app is now available to members, who get their care at Group Health Medical Centers, using the Android smart phone platform.  Launched in August for iPhones, the app has been downloaded more than 10,000 times by Group Health members looking to take advantage of the organization’s free, first-of-its-kind mobile technology.

The free Group Health mobile app includes five key health features:

  • Mobile access to medical records (including email your doctor, check test results, view visit summaries, check immunization histories and more),
  • Wait times at the closest Group Health Lab or Pharmacy
  • Direct access to call or secure message a consulting nurse 24/7,
  • Maps to the nearest Group Health Medical Centers,
  • Comprehensive symptom checker.

A future update under consideration is access to proxy health files, including a child’s immunization records.

Currently, the Group Health mobile app is available for iPhones in the app store and to Android users in the Android Market.

Group Health and King County Work Together to Curb Health Care Spending

September 20, 2011 — 2:54 pm

Quality, Coordinated Health Care Results in Savings for Employees and County Government

 King County today announced that from 2003-2009 it saved on average $4,315 per employee per year in medical costs with the help of Group Health. County employees saved $792 a year in out-of-pocket costs, through lower copays and lower priced generic drug prescriptions, during that time. King County employees in KingCareSM and Group Health have the same demographic profile, so these factors were absent in any cost differential. Group Health was able to lower the annual health care costs of King County employees and promote better health by focusing on preventative, research based medicine and low cost prescription alternatives.

Last year, King County put into place a benefits package that offered a financial incentive for employees to choose Group Health over its preferred provider plan, KingCareSM. More than 3,000 King County employees are enrolled in Group Health.

While seeking ways to reduce health care costs, King County looked at rewarding employees for choosing Group Health. This year King County Executive Dow Constantine himself switched from the preferred provider plan to Group Health.

 “We’re dedicated to making sure that King County employees get the best possible care and take ownership of their healthcare,” said Executive Constantine. “By helping people focus on preventative care, we were able to save a significant amount of money, not to mention enriching the lives of the people who work on behalf of the county.”

By supporting effective, low cost services Group Health saves King County employees $792 a year in out-of-pocket costs, compared to KingCareSM. Additionally, the increased focus on coordinated and preventive care for King County Group Health members has resulted in fewer claims for emergency, hospital and operating rooms versus KingCareSM. For the fifth report in a row, Group Health’s group practice received the most top ratings on quality care measures in the Puget Sound Health Alliance (PSHA) Community Checkup.

Child Health Leaders Announce Launch of Vax Northwest Partnership

— 7:00 am

Five-year initiative will address the growing rates of Washington State parents opting out of vaccinating their children

A coalition of children’s health leaders today announced the launch of Vax Northwest, a public-private partnership created to ensure all children and communities in Washington are protected from preventable, life-threatening diseases. The coalition—including Group Health, Seattle Children’s, the Washington State Department of Health, WithinReach and the Community Pediatric Foundation of Washington—was formed to provide parents with the information they need when making decisions about vaccinating their children.

Washington State has the highest vaccine exemption rate in the country: about 6.2 percent of local parents choose to opt out of kindergarten vaccination requirements for their children. Most states have rates lower than 3 percent.

“Most parents choose to protect their children from diseases such as measles, meningitis, polio and whooping cough through vaccinations,” said Ed Marcuse MD, associate medical director at Seattle Children’s. “That choice also helps reduce the spread of preventable diseases; however, some parents are skipping or delaying routine vaccines, and that leaves our communities at risk for disease outbreaks.”

Vaccines protect children that receive them from life-threatening diseases while also protecting the health of family, friends and the community in which those children live. When vaccination rates are high, people who cannot be protected directly by vaccines—such as newborns and people with leukemia or immune system diseases—are protected because they are not exposed to the disease.

When parents choose not to fully vaccinate their children, the health of children and communities are put at risk. In fact, there have been two tragic deaths of babies from whooping cough so far this year, a disease against which babies are too young to be fully vaccinated. In 2010, there were more than 600 cases of whooping cough in Washington, up from 291 in 2009.

“It might seem as though diseases like whooping cough or measles are not a threat, because many of today’s parents haven’t experienced them,” said David Grossman MD, medical director for preventive care at Group Health. “We want to help parents get the information they need when making vaccination decisions for their children.”

Vax Northwest will address this growing concern by developing tools for health care providers to work with parents as they make vaccination decisions for their children. Vax Northwest is also developing community outreach resources so that parents can share information in their own communities. The coalition plans to test and evaluate its approach so the lessons learned can be shared across Washington State and beyond.

The activities of this five-year effort are funded by the Group Health Foundation and a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Vax Northwest is also reaching out to other funding partners to join the coalition.

One parent who supports the work of Vax Northwest is Heidi Bruch, who unintentionally passed whooping cough to her newborn daughter Caroline. When she was just two weeks old, Caroline began coughing, just as Bruch had been during her last few weeks of pregnancy. During one of her coughing episodes, Caroline started turning blue and was rushed to the hospital, where she stayed for nearly a month in critical condition. She ultimately survived, but this serious illness could have been prevented by a vaccine.

“I feel compelled to tell other mothers the importance of getting vaccinations against these preventable illnesses because I do not want any other mother to have to witness what I saw when my child was turning blue, fighting for her life, because of a disease that’s preventable by vaccination,” said Bruch.

Media Contact:
Joe Turcotte
Group Health Foundation
206-448-7301
turcotte.j@ghc.org

Michele Roberts
Washington State Department of Health
Health Promotion and Communication Manager
360-236-3720
michele.roberts@doh.wa.gov

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