Group Health Cooperative Scored Above Regional Average in 11 of 15 Quality Measures

SEATTLE, July 20 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ — Group Health Cooperative medical centers received “above regional average” scores in 11 out of 15 quality measures in the Puget Sound Health Alliance Community Checkup. Group Health received more “above regional average” ratings than any of the other nine medical groups in the Puget Sound region that were rated on all 15 measures in the July report. Group Health received no “below regional average” scores.

“We support the work of the Puget Sound Health Alliance to provide transparency for quality of care in this region,” said Michael Soman, chief medical executive for Group Health Medical Centers. “We are pleased to be one of the leaders in innovative approaches to care, but recognize that we all have work to do. We take seriously, and are excited about, the opportunities we have to improve.”

The Puget Sound Health Alliance is a non-profit, non-partisan regional collaborative working to improve health care quality and affordability. The Community Checkup compares care in doctors’ offices and hospitals, highlighting where performance is high or improvement is needed. The report measures care in the use of antibiotics and imaging, asthma, depression, diabetes, heart disease, prevention, and generic drugs.

The report shows wide variation in the care that patients receive. “Too many patients still don’t get effective health care recommended by national medical guidelines, said David Fleming, M.D., Alliance Board Chair and Director of Public Health — Seattle and King County. “The good news is that by using insights from the Community Checkup report, then making changes to improve the results, we can reduce the personal and financial cost of chronic disease and preventable health conditions.”

Group Health Cooperative

Marking its 62nd year, Group Health Cooperative is an innovative, consumer-governed, nonprofit health care system that integrates care and coverage. Along with its subsidiary carriers, Group Health Options, Inc. and KPS Health Plans, Group Health works to improve the health of more than 607,000 plan members in Washington and Idaho.

More than 9,000 staff employed by Group Health and Group Health Permanente, its contracted, multispecialty group practice, provide patient-centered, evidence-based care to members and the broader community through medical centers, a charitable foundation, and a nationally recognized research center.

Please visit the virtual newsroom on our Web site, www.ghc.org under “Newsroom.”

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SOURCE Group Health Cooperative