Jan. 18, 2005

Puget Sound Health Alliance created

Virginia Mason, Regence BlueShield, Seattle Surgery Center, Community Health Plan of Washington and Hope Heart Institute join

Health care professionals, large and small businesses and governments who purchase health care, health plans and consumers have joined together to form the Puget Sound Health Alliance (PSHA), formerly the Puget Sound Health Partnership, to address better ways of providing and receiving quality health care. PSHA was recently incorporated as a Washington nonprofit corporation and is currently applying for federal tax exempt status. PSHA hopes to be recognized as a tax exempt public charity by the end of 2005.

This public/private regional collaborative effort, recommended by the King County Health Advisory Task Force, is committed to system-wide transformation aimed at improving the quality of care and controlling health care costs in the four-county region of King, Kitsap, Pierce, and Snohomish counties.

Current Alliance participants King County, Starbucks, Washington Mutual, the State of Washington, Group Health Cooperative, the City of Seattle, and Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), were joined this month by Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle Surgery Center, Regence BlueShield, Community Health Plan of Washington and the Hope Heart Institute.

The Health Advisory Task Force, convened by King County Executive Ron Sims, www.metrokc.gov/exec/hatf/ recommended that all key parties in the region collaborate to make changes to improve the quality and delivery of health care, as well as educate users of the system in how to get well and stay well.

Because no one purchaser, plan, or provider group by itself is capable of creating the market impact necessary to decrease waste, improve the quality of care, and decrease the cost trends in the Puget Sound region, collective market power and clinical expertise is vital to this endeavor. Together, the current participants in PSHA represent more than 288,000 insured lives in the four-county Puget Sound region.

The Puget Sound Health Alliance will have the market influence, clinical expertise, and quality/cost performance measurement systems to align health care financing and delivery systems into a high performance regional enterprise. The organization’s goals are to: improve the quality of care; slow the rate of increase in health care expenditures in the Puget Sound region; improve the health outcomes for people; improve the ability of both consumers and providers to become partners in managing health; and ensure collaborative decision-making based on evidence.

"Virginia Mason is committed to transparency in the sharing of clinical data because it is the right thing to do for our patients," said Gary S. Kaplan, M.C., Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Virginia Mason Medical Center. "We support the important work of the Puget Sound Health Alliance, and we are enthusiastic about our collective ability to learn, improve and provide informed choices to our community."

"We see great synergies between the Alliance and the work Regence has been doing to help transform health care with information that makes differences in cost and quality more transparent to providers, purchasers, and consumers," said Mary O. McWilliams, president of Regence BlueShield. "We believe a broad collaborative approach offers the most promise for advancing the adoption of evidence-based medicine."

"We are pleased to join a group of dedicated employers throughout the state committed to finding solutions to our current health care crisis through collaboration and shared resources," said Darnell Dent, Community Health Plan of Washington’s Chief Executive Officer. "Community Health Plan of Washington brings a unique perspective to the Puget Sound Health Alliance not only as an employer in the region, but also as we serve over 200,000 low-income individuals and families who often face barriers to care."

"As an organization dedicated to preventing cardiovascular disease and promoting overall health of the community through research and education, the Hope Heart Institute is tremendously supportive of the efforts of the Puget Sound Health Alliance. We are thrilled to be included," said Mark Nudelman, Chief Operating Officer of the Hope Heart Institute.

"Seattle Surgery Center is excited to be part of the solution-seeking to our health care coverage concerns. We cannot wait for our national and even state legislators and policymakers to act for us. We must act now and together," said James Sapienza, Chief Executive Officer. "We are anxious to leverage technology and coordinate information with our Puget Sound partners to improve quality and decrease costs."

Please contact Rachel Quinn at 206-296-4165 for more information about the Puget Sound Health Alliance.