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HHS is recognizing 14 community-based organizations around the country asthe first Chartered Value Exchanges, and Secretary Leavitt will personallyrecognize Quality Corp during his Portland visit. The organization is beingrecognized for taking clear actions to convene community purchasers, healthplans, providers and consumers to advance value-driven health care.
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"Quality health care happens when doctors, nurses and patients are all onthe same team with the same expectations," said Nancy Clarke, ExecutiveDirector of the Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation. "Information aboutcost and quality, provided in the right way, can encourage a much strongerpartnership between patients and their provider teams, leading to betterhealth."
The Quality Corp, in addition to other groups receiving the designation,will receive access to Medicare provider performance information for theircommunities, which can be combined with similarly calculated private-sectorresults to produce and publish all-payer performance results. The valueexchanges will also become part of a nationwide Learning Network through whichthey can share experiences, best practices, and identify areas whereinnovation is needed.
"Currently, we don't have a sense of how we are doing in terms ofdelivering high value health care in Oregon," said Ralph Prows, M.D., SeniorMedical Director for Regence and Chairman of Oregon Health Care QualityCorporation. "A cooperative approach to measuring care value -- one thatfocuses on improvement -- is the only way this will work. All of us --doctors, hospitals, health plans, purchasers, patients, government -- can andwill do better with good information."
About Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation:
The Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation is a non-profit partnershipthat brings together physician groups, nurses, hospitals, health plans,purchasers, consumers and policy makers to improve the quality of health carethrough collaborative leadership. The group focuses on projects that measureand report care quality, align quality improvement assistance to providers,engage consumers in a quality health care system, and foster electronicexchange of health information.Specifically, Quality Corp is focused on the following efforts: -- Giving people information that helps them be better partners with their doctors in managing their own health. -- Learning how doctors and hospitals how they can make improvements in caring for patients. -- Helping purchasers get the information they need in order to buy high value health care. -- Encouraging systems to get patients' information to where it is needed for good care.
SOURCE Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation
