HAP Launches New Health Care Quality, Cost Resource for Pennsylvanians
Harrisburg, Pa. (PRWEB) December 15, 2016 -- The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania (HAP) today launched its new online tool, Care in Pennsylvania, to provide consumers with user-friendly health care quality and cost information.
Care in Pennsylvania is a consumer-focused website that helps individuals learn more about health care in their communities, using data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Hospital Compare and the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council.
The resource offers the opportunity for consumers to research:
• Physician, hospital, and nursing home quality performance
• Service use rates across select measures
• Useful health care terminology with definitions
“This state-specific health care quality and cost tool is a relatively new, collaborative concept, and we are thrilled to share it with the public,” said HAP President and CEO Andy Carter. “Pennsylvania hospitals have reported important quality information to state and federal entities for decades, but this new hub of credible information allows for greater transparency, in hopes of improving consumer engagement in their care.”
Key attributes of this new consumer-facing hospital quality and price transparency tool include:
• Evidence-based health care reports about quality, cost, and patient experience
• User-friendly design to provide an educational and informational experience, including guided search support and easy point-and-click selections that allow users to compare multiple facilities across a common measure
• Instructional and educational information to enhance the user’s time on the website
• Relevant quality and consumer assessment data including Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set measures and Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Provider and Systems results
• Health care delivery terminology and definitions, such as definitions of medical diagnoses, as well as health care delivery terms and demographics
“I view Care in Pennsylvania as an important resource because it helps me gather meaningful, reliable health care information that I can use to make important decisions for myself and my family,” said Pennsylvania health care consumer, Ed Ryan. “The fact that Pennsylvania hospitals are sharing quality and cost information in such a helpful way shows me that we’re moving forward in the world of health care transparency—and that means a lot to me.”
Through member and consumer input, HAP developed the website and identified information that can be used by consumers in concert with their health care providers.
“HAP’s Board of Directors, along with our 240 members across the state, are showing their true colors with the support and launch of this resource,” Carter added. “We are dedicated to helping Pennsylvanians better understand and navigate the health care delivery system, especially during a time when changes are rapidly occurring in health care. And this website shows we’re not slowing down anytime soon.”
ABOUT HAP: HAP is a statewide membership services organization that advocates for nearly 240 Pennsylvania acute and specialty care, primary care, subacute care, long-term care, home health, and hospice providers, as well as the patients and communities they serve. Additional information about HAP is available online at http://www.haponline.org.
###
2016
Katie Byrnes Schroeder (for statewide inquiries), The Hospital and Healthsystem Association of Pennsylvania, https://www.haponline.org/, (717) 561-5342, [email protected]
Share this article