Joye Burton sent a message using the contact form at
http://www.abouthealthtransparency.org/contact.

ATLANTA – Georgiahealthinfo.gov just made it even easier for Georgians to navigate through the myriad of health care options available to them. Newly added features such as long-term care quality comparisons, expanded provider look-up, and clinic and specialty hospitals search tools, enhance Georgians’ ability to identify long-term care options and health care providers.

Please join us for a major forum about:

* the urgent problems in health care (escalating costs, increasing numbers of people with no coverage, disparities in access, and unsafe care),
* the increasingly intense debate about options for national health care reform, and
* the potential impacts of national reform in New York

The openEHR Foundation is pleased to announce the public availability of its Clinical Knowledge Manager (CKM) Web portal.

UHG has reached a settlement with NY AG Cuomo over the calculation of reasonable and customary fees by UHG's Ingenix.

Under the agreement a university (tbd) will compute the fees, and UHG will sponsor the creation of the new independent database to the tune of $50M

Full story @ NYT: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/01/13/health/policy/13care.html?_r=1&hp

Mike Martin sent us this update:

Today the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) Health Data Committee released its annual consumer reports comparing hospitals on maternity and newborns, hip and knee care, heart and stroke care, and pneumonia care. Over the past three years, the Health Data Committee has published a total of 20 health care comparison reports using measures for charges, quality and patient safety. See the most recent reports, along with those previously published, in their entirety at: health.utah.gov/myhealthcare

Jeff Rice updates us:

For industry insiders, it is common knowledge that buying healthcare at hospitals’ and doctors’ regular prices is worse than buying a car at full sticker price- many times worse because the "billed charges" are often 2 to 5 times the normal price. A new Web site offers ZIP code-specific fair pricing information for healthcare services including hospitalization, surgery, physician services, labs, imaging, dental and more.

Mike Martin updates us:

The Utah Health Data Committee has released its 12th annual report evaulating quality performance and member satisfaction of selected Utah health plans covering more than 900,000 members across the state. See the full report at: http://health.utah.gov/hda/reports/2008/hmo/index.php

I was sent this press release, which covers the July launch of WhereToFindCare.com

I had a quick look, and was surprised to see two hospital reviews get published immediately, not sure if they were moderated or not. Also, my one review of each hospital was enough to generate a score for future viewers, although it's pretty clear that only one survey was submitted.

In a move to further health system reform, the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) Health Data Committee has selected new software that will capture significantly more health care data than ever before. The software will support an 'all claims' database that will aid in the analysis of information on visits to clinics, doctors’ offices and urgent care centers. Previously, the UDOH was able to gather only data generated through hospital, ambulatory surgery center and emergency department visits.

New Jersey's Hospital Performance Report has received it's annual update: press release here, link to the full Web report here.

The site focusses on process measures from CMS' Hospital Compare Web site.

The New Hampshire Acute Care Hospital Comparison Report was released yesterday: Full Report here (PDF), press release here (also PDF).

The Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research, which oversees care at the SSKM Hospital in Kolkata (formerly "Calcutta") has announced it will begin to publish physician report cards.

Director Prodip Mitra stated that "We should know which group of doctors work hard and which group doesn't work properly. Those who work hard, their performance should be acknowledged. Sometimes only a mention of their good performance motivates doctors."

ACT published their most recent quarterly report on health care within the federal territory.

ACT Health Public Services Performance Report Quarter 4 2007-08 (PDF File - 1012k)

The report covers a wide range of data including wait times for surgery, hospital acquired infections, dental services and unplanned readmissions.

Mike Martin sends this update on two new reports from Utah:

Quality similar to national averages but costs vary widely

One of the most important decisions Utahns can make is choosing a health care facility that will provide the best care for themselves and family members. To help Utahns be better informed of their choices when seeking medical care, the Utah Department of Health (UDOH) Health Data Committee (HDC) has released two new comparison reports on stroke care and gallbladder removal.

S.2863, An Act to Promote Cost Containment, Transparency and Efficiency in the Delivery of Quality Health Care, was passed by the Mass. Legislature last week. Among other things, it includes a public reporting requirement that would document all gifts worth more than $50 from drug companies to physicians. It also covers:

· Public reporting of healthcare-associated infections;
· Public reporting of, and nonpayment for, serious reportable events;
· Establishment of Patient and Family Councils in hospitals;
· Establishment of rapid response methods in hospitals.