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Biomedical subjects

H Darling

Publications and source records attributed to H Darling.

16 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1998

Assessing HMO centers of excellence programs: one employer's experience.

HMOs have sought to enhance the provision of organ and tissue transplantation services for their members through centers of excellence (COE) programs. Such programs initially assess and subsequently monitor the medical centers offered as part of such programs on the basis of procedure volumes and outcomes, as well as the experience of the transplantation surgeons. Purchasers rely on the presence of COE programs to assure their beneficiaries of access to appropriate care in the event that a need for transplantation arises, but little comparative literature exists on these HMO programs. One purchaser assessed the COE programs offered by 89 HMOs serving its beneficiaries, based on the criteria developed on its behalf by the medical directors of six different health systems and reviewed by HMO and academic medical center personnel. 57 (75 percent) met these criteria, and the implications for HMOs, medical centers, beneficiaries, and other purchasers are explored.

Benchmarking↗
PubMed1998

Major purchasers view customer service.

While managed care organizations may select a variety of strategies toward customer service, the most successful will be adapting their approach to the expectation and requirements of major purchasers. In order to better understand the perspective of the individuals who are responsible for policy decisions at that level, Managed Care Quarterly (MCQ) conducted interviews with three highly respected representatives.

Consumer Behavior↗
PubMed1994

The Employee Health Care Value Survey: round one.

In a groundbreaking arrangement, a consortium of large employers--the Xerox, GTE, and Digital Equipment Corporations--launched the Employee Health Care Value Survey during fall 1993. Completed by 24,306 employees, this survey was used to develop comparable methods for assessing corporate health care benefit strategies. It also enabled fair comparisons of thirty-two health plans across the country on more than sixty criteria. Variation in performance among plans was substantial, with managed care plans--particularly prepaid group practices and individual practice associations (IPAs)--recording the most favorable rankings on disenrollment, overall satisfaction, and other measures of "bottom-line performance." Variation in enrollees' health among plans was more modest, with indemnity enrollees posing a somewhat greater illness burden to their plans than enrollees of other plan types. The employers and evaluated health plans are now using the results for multiple purposes, including quality improvement initiatives, employee-based plan performance reports, employee contribution strategies, and health promotion programs.

Consumer Behavior↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Culture shock and synergy. Academic/managed care/corporate alliances in outcomes management.

The Behavioral Health Outcomes Study is a partnership in conducting outcomes measurement involving a corporate healthcare purchaser, five managed behavioral healthcare organizations and academic researchers. The goals of this study are to: evaluate the feasibility of incorporating patient self-reported data in outcomes research; identify factors that may be predictors of outcome; and evaluate the effectiveness of an employee-sponsored aftercare program. The differing perspectives and needs of the three partners have created a number of challenges in the areas of goals, confidentiality, proprietary vs. open access issues and methodology. However, after the study's first year, it is clear not only that outcomes research can be conducted under such a partnership, but that the partnership generates a kind of synergy in problem-solving.

Confidentiality↗