David Lansky Named PBGH President and CEO

David Lansky, PhD, has joined the Pacific Business Group on Health as its new President and Chief Executive Officer, succeeding Peter V. Lee, who assumes a new role as its Executive Director of National Policy. "As a proponent of health care accountability and consumer engagement, David is perfectly suited to represent leading purchasers in advancing quality, access and affordability," said Paul Fearer, Chairman of the PBGH Board of Directors.

“Transforming our health system will require payment and infrastructure changes that optimize resources across health care delivery and society,” said Lansky, citing his experience working closely with national purchasers, public and private, and with large consumer organizations. “PBGH holds a shared vision for compassionate, respectful, equitable, and evidence-based care that meets both individual and population needs. I am honored to work with these leading employers and a remarkable staff in one of the nation’s most dynamic markets.”

Previously, Lansky led the Personal Health Technology Initiative for the Markle Foundation and was President of the Foundation for Accountability (FACCT) from its inception in 1995. For more than twenty years, he has advocated for a more responsive health care system in which consumers are partners in their care and help to shape the delivery of care. A nationally recognized expert in accountability and quality measurement, Lansky has worked collaboratively with multiple stakeholders as a board member and advisor to numerous health care projects and programs. Read more.

CalPERS and PBGH Release Ground-breaking Hospital Efficiency Report
Hospitals have wide variation in price and efficiency, and consumers have no easy way to compare them.  To advance transparency in hospital performance, PBGH and CalPERS released Cost Efficiency at Hospital Facilities in California: A Report Based on Publicly Available Data, which compares hospitals on costs incurred to provide services and on charges collected from private payers and patients.  The variation across both parameters is large: 3 to 1 on costs and 6 to 1 on charges.

What's more, geographical variation, as illustrated by an almost 30% higher cost on average in Sacramento-area facilities, for instance, apparently cannot be explained by payer mix, teaching status, or regional wage differences.  More likely, it reflects market consolidation and reduced competition among hospitals.  Finally, in many cases, there appears to be no direct correlation between cost to payers and costs to hospitals.   The report also underscored the dramatic impact of cost-shift on commercial premiums.  In 2005, hospitals collected approximately 40% more than their costs from private payers and their patients to cover shortfalls from Medicare, Medi-Cal and the uninsured.

Download    Full Report   Summary

 
Modest 2007 Gains for California Health Plan Quality with Room for Improvement
PBGH and the California Cooperative Healthcare Reporting Initiative (CCHRI) announce the release of the 2007 Report on Quality.  The Report includes health plan performance results on key HEDIS clinical and service measures, CAHPS member experience with health plans, and patient experience with their physician groups.  The 2007 results show modest changes from 2006 for the HEDIS measures and include the addition of 5 new measures.  Over the past several years, key clinical measures of chronic condition management have improved, including diabetes and cardiovascular disease.  In 2007 the CAHPS survey of patient experience underwent major change, making trend analysis from 2006 difficult.  The greatest opportunity for improvement continues to be in areas relating to access to care.

"Opportunities for Improvement in California" is a new section this year that examines how health plans in California perform compared to national averages.  The report translates employee productivity and absenteeism savings to an employer based on selection of a low vs. high performing plan.  Importantly, the section discusses strategies for improving performance in California.  Read more.

CCHRI-participating plans have committed to working together to produce results for similar measures for their PPO products in preparation for meeting the Department of Insurance requirement to report PPO performance 2009.

PBGH Releases "Tobacco Cessation Benefit Coverage and Consumer Engagement Strategies" Report
Purchasers pay about $20,000 more for each smoker they insure.  Despite decades of evidence about the health and financial consequences of smoking, 1 in 6 Californians light up.  The role of Purchasers in tobacco cessation support is amplified by the fact that two-thirds of California smokers say they want to quit.  The PBGH report indicates that statewide California HMOs provide smoking cessation services with varying levels of coverage for pharmaceuticals and behavior change support.  Self-funded PPOs make services available for purchaser buy-up that can include telephonic coaching accompanied by over-the-counter medications and prescription drug therapy.

Employers can impact health, medical costs, and productivity through benefit design and wellness programs, aided by effective communications and incentives.  Evidence shows that structured assistance in the form of medication support or behavioral change counseling can more than double success rates.  Based on health plan interviews, an employer survey, and information reported through the eValue8 RFI process, key findings include:

• Employers who communicate the existing benefits available through various health plans can leverage the coverage already available.

• Incentives may be an effective way to encourage employees who are considering quitting to take a first step, which can include accessing medication, a coach, and/or an online program. 

• Health plans that systematically identify smokers within their population have better quit rates and perform better on HEDIS tobacco-related measures.

The work was funded through a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Cooperative Agreement grant with the National Business Coalition on Health.  The report will be released in mid-February and can be accessed here.

PBGH Spotlight is published by Pacific Business Group on Health 221 Main Street Suite 1500 San Francisco, CA 94105 phone: 415.281.8660 For more info, contact info@pbgh.org www.pbgh.org © 2008 PBGH