All Articles on Health

• From waste to value-conscious innovation: Can Group Health show the way?

  On May 11, Canadian economist Robert G. Evans, PhD, praised Group Health for our idea-driven success. But then he asked: “If Group Health has a better mousetrap, why isn’t the world beating a path to your door?”
• Total Health evaluation aims to help purchasers’ dollars go farther

  In January 2011, Group Health introduced a new "value-based" medical plan for its mid-large group market. The groundbreaking product addressed a top priority for health care purchasers: finding cost savings that don't compromise health or quality of care.
• Patient-centered health IT helps advance high-quality care

  A key provision in 2009's economic stimulus legislation propelled health information technology (IT) into national health care policy debates.
• Now’s the time: Award and endowment hail Dr. Wagner’s lifework

  Deliberations over health care’s future continue to be divisive. The U.S. Senate “super committee”—deadlocked over deficits linked largely to health care spending—has thrown in the towel. The Affordable Care Act is headed for the U.S. Supreme Court.
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  Group Health, ITHS launch free health literacy e-course

  Group Health, ITHS launch free health literacy e-course
• Incentives studied to align care, coverage, and wellness

  The effectiveness of Total Health, a unique benefits program for Group Health Cooperative employees, is the subject of a four-year study that the federal Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently funded. It’s part of a trend to integrate care, insurance, and wellness programs and base them on research findings. The goal is to help people stay healthier and control health care costs.
• Medical home pays off, improving primary care and cutting cost at 2 years

  In a two-year evaluation at Group Health Cooperative, transforming primary care into a “patient-centered medical home” model paid off. The evaluation compared the medical home prototype to GH's other medical centers, showing that the quality of care was higher, patients reported having better experiences, and clinicians said they felt less “burned out.”