Due to the rapid growth in consumer-driven health plans and provider incentive
programs, IBC must become more transparent by increasing the availability and
accessibility of health information and data. With that, we are pleased to
announce the launch of new provider cost and quality transparency tools and
features for commercial and Medicare Advantage HMO and PPO members, including
those who carry an Independence Administrators ID card, and participating
providers.
Over the next few months and throughout 2013, new tools and features will be
released to assist IBC members in becoming more informed consumers and managing
their health benefits. In addition, these tools will assist providers as they
strive to become more accountable for the cost and quality of care being
delivered.
Member-facing tools
The following new tools and features will be released in December 2012:
Search for a Doctor, Hospital, or Other Medical Facility. This new, easy-to-use
tool will more efficiently assist members in their online search of the
doctors, specialists, hospitals, and other health care professionals who
participate in IBC?s network.
Patient Review of Physicians. This new feature will allow IBC members to read
and write physician reviews regarding their experiences and care received from
physicians. Members will be able to view patient reviews and comments when
searching for an IBC-participating provider and use this information to assist
in the process of selecting a physician. A comprehensive process will be in
place to authenticate membership, verify a physician visit occurred within the
past six months, and moderate reviews prior to them appearing on this tool. In
addition, all reviews will be checked for appropriateness of language and
content.
Cost Estimator. This new feature will allow IBC members to review
provider-specific cost range information for an assortment of inpatient and
outpatient services to better enable them to estimate their out-of-pocket costs
(i.e., coinsurance and deductible amounts) and manage their benefits. This
information will be made available for a menu of treatment categories, which
will be modified periodically. It is important to note that this cost
information will be available only to IBC members who access our provider
finder through our secure member website, ibxpress.com, or through MyIBXTPA.com
for Independence Administrators' plan members.
Hospital Quality Measures. Through the new search tool, IBC will continue to
promote and encourage members to access publicly available hospital quality
data, such as information published on
www.phcqa.org, and other information made available via third-party data
sources on IBC's websites.
Additional tools that will be introduced in 2013 include:
Quality Measurement & Recognition. IBC members will be able to view primary
care physician quality performance measurement scores and local benchmarks.
Information provided will include screening rates and other process measures,
such as those included in IBC's QIPS program. Additionally, IBC members will be
able to easily identify provider recognitions, such as Patient-Centered Medical
Home certification, and identify top-performing practices in QIPS. Recognition
icons will highlight these types of providers in the new search tool results.
Provider-facing tools
To complement the Cost Estimator feature for members, a new tool, through the
NaviNet
® web portal, will be introduced in January 2013 for
IBC-participating primary care physicians in the Pennsylvania 5-county service
area:
Comparative Procedure Costs. Through a new transaction in NaviNet called
Population Management Tools, IBC-participating primary care physicians in the
Pennsylvania 5-county service area will be able to access the new Comparative
Procedure Costs tool to view network cost ranges and provider-specific relative
cost rankings for a menu of treatment categories, which will be modified
periodically. These provider-specific relative cost rankings, displayed at
facility level, will be based on the historical total cost of each encounter
based on the contracted facility and professional costs.
Look for more information regarding these new tools and features in future
editions of
Partners in Health UpdateSM.
NaviNet® is a registered trademark of
NaviNet, Inc., an independent company.