Marissa Higdon, Editorial Intern, Albuquerque Business First
Through the New Mexico Coalition for Healthcare Value, employers are leveraging their purchasing power to drive change in the health care industry.
"In the past, employers have never really leveraged their power," said the coalition's Project Director Patricia Montoya. "But they're paying more for health care now, so they're getting more involved."
On Friday, the coalition is hosting an education session for employers and insurance providers to help educate employers on how three local hospital systems — Lovelace Health System, Presbyterian Healthcare Services and the University of New Mexico — are lowering the costs of joint replacement surgeries.
The three hospital systems are involved in a federal program that asks Medicare providers to increase the quality of joint replacement surgeries while reducing the cost. Dr. Vesta Sandoval, director of pulmonary clinical services for Lovelace Medical Group and director of transitions of care for Lovelace Medical Center, says the organization is focusing on preoperative care and care provided after the surgery. The program is aimed at Medicare providers, meaning it's trying to save money for the federal government, but Dr. Sandoval says the changes made will impact all patients, and so all insurance providers.
"This is about reducing cost and increasing efficiency," she said. "We want better outcomes for our patients. It's not going to be limited to Medicare, our best practices will be seen by all patients."
That's exactly what providers are hoping for.
"There are a lot of value-based initiatives that are being implemented at the federal level," said Mark Saiz, chair of the coalition and insurance and benefits manager for the city of Albuquerque. "As commercial payers, we'd like to be able to take advantage of these initiatives."
The point of the education session is to allow employers the opportunity to learn about cost-saving measures so they can use them to their advantage.
"We're trying to empower the employer," Saiz said. "Where are we missing opportunities to save money? How can we improve outcomes?"
The education session will take place the morning of July 15 at the Albuquerque International Balloon Museum. More information can be found here. According to research released by Health Affairs, a health care policy publication, in 2004 hip and knee replacements cost hospitals $11 billion, and the operations cost Medicare $5 billion in 2006.
View the original story here.
Albuquerque Business First