Jan. 28, 2005

Puget Sound Health Alliance unveiled

Consortium to improve the quality and cost of health care

Citing the urgent need to find a regional solution to the health care crisis, leaders of business, government, health plans, and health care professionals today unveiled a groundbreaking collaborative effort to improve the quality, efficiency and costs of health care delivery in the Puget Sound area.

The Puget Sound Health Alliance (PSHA), initiated by King County Executive Ron Sims, includes members from public/private regional organizations large and small who will work to increase the quality of care delivered throughout King, Kitsap, Pierce and Snohomish counties.

The increase in health care costs in the Puget Sound area mirror national trends. Several studies predict that health insurance costs for typical employers are expected to double by the end of the decade, far outstripping inflation. Other studies show that the quality of the health delivery system has significant room for improvement. Sims said the magnitude and complexity of the problem threatens the economy and requires bold action on a region-wide scale.

"No one purchaser, plan, or health care professional group by itself is capable of creating the change necessary to decrease waste, improve the quality of care, and decrease the cost trends in the Puget Sound region," said Sims. "We must harness the collective strength and intelligence of our region to meet this challenge."

Sims pointed to last year's report from the King County Health Advisory Task Force as the catalyst for the Alliance. The task force recommended that all key stakeholders in the Puget Sound region - from employers to health professionals to health plan providers - collaborate to improve the quality and delivery of health care, and to educate people on how to get well and stay well.

"Better health care for our employees is a critical issue and it's absolutely necessary to control the cost of that health care for both businesses and employees," said Craig Tall, Washington Mutual. "We all have a mutual interest in improving health care."

Current Puget Sound Alliance participants include King County, Starbucks, Washington Mutual, State of Washington, Group Health Cooperative, City of Seattle, Puget Sound Energy, Recreational Equipment Inc. (REI), Virginia Mason Medical Center, Seattle Surgery Center, Regence BlueShield, Community Health Plan of Washington, Peter Dunbar, MD, Hope Heart Institute, The Polyclinic, Port Blakely Companies, PacMed, Qualis Health, the Foundation for Health Care Quality and Pierce County.

Together, the current members of the PSHA represent more than 300,000 insured people in the four county-Puget Sound region. The Alliance has the market influence, clinical expertise, and performance measurement systems to align health care financing and delivery systems from which everyone in the Puget Sound region will benefit.

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 consumers' and health care professionals' ability to become partners in managing health; and ensure collaborative decision-making based on evidence.

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

Information on the King County Health Advisory Task Force can be found at: www.metrokc.gov/exec/hatf/.