Quality care can lower health care costs
The physicians and groups selected for Priority Health Quality Awards have achieved the highest overall scores for implementing a wide range of measures that include preventive care, control of chronic diseases and patient satisfaction. The patient satisfaction measures rate the practices' success at giving preventive health advice and returning telephone calls in a timely way.
Here are some of the measures used to determine a physician's quality of care.
Breast cancer screening
Routine screenings find cancer early, save lives and an average of $20,000 per patient with an early diagnosis.
| Members who get routine screenings every two years | 2011 |
|---|
| Priority Health group health plans |
80% |
| National average for group health plans |
70% |
Cervical cancer screening
By finding cancer early, routine screenings save lives and an average of $26,000 per patient.
| Members who get routine Pap tests every three years | 2011 |
|---|
| Priority Health group health plans |
86% |
| National average for group health plans |
77% |
Asthma control
Good asthma treatment reduces emergency room visits by an average of 17% and inpatient admissions by an average of 9%.
| Members who get the appropriate medication to keep their asthma under control | 2011 |
|---|
| Priority Health group health plans |
94% |
| National average for group health plans |
93% |
Diabetes - Blood sugar control
Better blood sugar control saves an average of $1,180 per diabetes patient.
| Members with diabetes who have their blood sugar under control | 2011 |
|---|
| Priority Health group health plans |
72% |
| National average for group health plans |
63% |
Diabetes - Cholesterol (LDL) control
Low LDL levels cut the risk of heart attack or premature death in half.
| Members with diabetes who have their cholesterol under control | 2011 |
|---|
| Priority Health group health plans |
51% |
| National average for group health plans |
48% |
*Note: The data is from group HMO and POS plans.
Data sources
Priority Health's data is from Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®). HEDIS is a registered trademark of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).
The source for national average data is Quality Compass® 2011 and is used with the permission of the NCQA. Quality Compass 2011 includes certain Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) data. Any data display, analysis, interpretation, or conclusion based on these data is solely that of the authors, and NCQA specifically disclaims responsibility for any such display, analysis, interpretation, or conclusion. Quality Compass is a registered trademark of NCQA. CAHPS is a registered trademark of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).
