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As the patient-centered medical home model emerges as a key vehicle to improve the quality of health care and to control costs, the experience of Seattle-based Group Health Cooperative with its medical home pilot takes on added importance. This paper examines the effects of the medical home prototype on patients' experiences, quality, burnout of clinicians, and total costs at twenty-one to twenty-four months after implementation. The results show improvements in patients' experiences, quality, and clinician burnout through two years. Compared to other Group Health clinics, patients in the medical home experienced 29 percent fewer emergency visits and 6 percent fewer hospitalizations. We estimate total savings of $10.3 per patient per month twenty-one months into the pilot. We offer an operational blueprint and policy recommendations for adoption in other health care settings.

Objective: To estimate the joint effect of a multifaceted access intervention on primary care physician (PCP) productivity in a large, integrated prepaid group practice., Data Sources: Administrative records of physician characteristics, compensation and full-time equivalent (FTE) data, linked to enrollee utilization and cost information., Study Design: Dependent measures per quarter per FTE were office visits, work relative value units (WRVUs), WRVUs per visit, panel size, and total cost per member per quarter (PMPQ), for PCPs employed >0.25 FTE. General estimating equation regression models were included provider and enrollee characteristics., Principal Findings: Panel size and RVUs per visit rose, while visits per FTE and PMPQ cost declined significantly between baseline and full implementation. Panel size rose and visits per FTE declined from baseline through rollout and full implementation. RVUs per visit and RVUs per FTE first declined, and then increased, for a significant net increase of RVUs per visit and an insignificant rise in RVUs per FTE between baseline and full implementation. PMPQ cost rose between baseline and rollout and then declined, for a significant overall decline between baseline and full implementation., Conclusions: This organization-wide access intervention was associated with improvements in several dimensions in PCP productivity and gains in clinical efficiency.

Objective: To test the substitution hypothesis, that community-based care reduces the probability of institutional placement for at-risk elderly., Research Design: The closure of the Social Health Maintenance Organization (Social HMO) at HealthPartners (HP) in Minnesota in 1994 and the continuation of the Social HMO at Kaiser Permanente Northwest (KPNW) in Oregon/Washington comprised a "natural experiment." Using multinomial logistic regression analyses, we followed cohorts of Social HMO enrollees for up to 5 years, 1995 to 1999. To adjust for site effects and secular trends, we also followed age- and gender-matched Medicare-Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA) cohorts, enrolled in the same HMOs but not in the Social HMOs., Subjects: All enrollees in the Social HMO for at least 4 months in 1993 and an age-gender matched sample of Medicare-TEFRA enrollees. To be included, individuals had to be alive and have a period out of an institution after January 1, 1995 (total n = 18,143)., Measures: The primary data sources were the electronic databases at HP and KPNW. The main outcomes were long-term nursing home placement (90+ days) or mortality. Covariates were age, gender, a comorbidity index, and geographic site effect., Results: Adjusting for variations in the 2 sites, we found no difference in probability of mortality between the 2 cohorts, but approximately a 40% increase in long-term institutional placement associated with the termination of the Social HMO at HealthPartners (odds ratio, 1.43; 95% confidence interval, 1.15-1.79)., Conclusions: The Social HMO appears to help at-risk elderly postpone long-term nursing home placement.

Background: Regular exercise is associated with many health benefits. Community-based exercise programs may increase exercise participation, but little is known about cost implications., Method: A retrospective, matched cohort study was conducted to determine if changes in healthcare costs for Medicare-eligible adults who choose to participate in a community-based exercise program were different from similar individuals who did not participate. Exercise program participants included 1114 adults aged > or = 65 years, who were continuously enrolled in Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound (GHC) between October 1, 1997 and December 31, 2000 and who participated in the Lifetime Fitness (exercise) Program Copyright (LFP) at least once; three GHC enrollees who never attended LFP were randomly selected as controls for each participant by matching on age and gender. Cost and utilization estimates from GHC administrative data for the time from LFP enrollment to December 31, 2000 were compared using multivariable regression models., Results: The average increase in annual total healthcare costs was less in participants compared to controls (+642 dollars vs +1175 dollars; p=0.05). After adjusting for differences in age, gender, enrollment date, comorbidity index, and pre-exposure cost and utilization levels, total healthcare costs for participants were 94.1% (95% confidence interval [CI], 85.6%-103.5%) of control costs. However, for participants who attended the exercise program at an average rate of > or = 1 visit weekly, total adjusted follow-up costs were 79.3% (95% CI, 71.3%-88.2%) of controls., Conclusions: Including a community exercise program as a health insurance benefit shows promise as a strategy for helping some Medicare-eligible adults to improve their health through exercise.

Background: Psychoeducational programs are increasingly being delivered over the Internet. We created an Internet-based, cognitive therapy, self-help program to be used as a stand-alone intervention for mild-to-moderate depression, or as an adjunct to traditional services for more severe depression., Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a web-based intervention program to reduce depression in a randomized, controlled trial., Methods: In a private, nonprofit health maintenance organization, we mailed recruitment brochures to two populations: depressed adults (n = 6994) who received traditional medical services for depression, and an age/gender matched sample of nondepressed adults (n = 6996). Participants consenting to the study were randomized to either the experimental Web site (n = 144), or a no-access control group (n = 155). Participants in both groups were free to obtain nonexperimental, usual care services for their depression. All participants completed an on-line version of the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D) at enrollment and at 4-, 8-, 16- and 32-weeks after enrollment. Mean intake scores were in the severely depressed range. 74% of participants completed at least one follow-up assessment. Unfortunately, most intervention participants accessed the Internet site infrequently., Results: We failed to find an effect for the Internet program across the entire sample. However, post-hoc, exploratory analyses revealed a modest effect among persons reporting low levels of depression at intake., Conclusions: The negative results might have resulted from infrequent patient use of the Internet site, or a more seriously depressed sample than the intervention was intended to help. Future studies should focus on recruiting persons with mild to moderate levels of depression, and on increasing participant use of the Internet site.

Washington-based Group Health Cooperative has been providing personalized services to patients over the Internet for a year through the MyGroupHealth member portal. We continue to refine our communications to meet the needs of our patients online in the absence of experience comparable to that which we have gained in 54 years of in-person and telephone interactions.

Objective: To determine if an association exists between managed care penetration and perinatal deregionalization in Washington State., Methods: The proportions of low birth weight (LBW) and very low birth weight (VLBW) deliveries were tabulated for each hospital in Washington State for the years 1989, 1993 and 1996. Level of perinatal care, degree of health maintenance organization (HMO) penetration, and maternal demographic characteristics including age, race, smoking, and Medicaid status were derived from state and national databases. Multiple linear regression analysis was performed for each hospital level to evaluate the association between change in proportion of LBW and VLBW deliveries and change in HMO penetration per hospital between each of the 3 years., Results: From 1989 through 1993, the proportion of LBW deliveries significantly declined at level III hospitals and rose at level I and II hospitals. This trend reversed between 1993 and 1996. Very low birth weight deliveries demonstrated more limited and somewhat contrary results, significantly decreasing, then increasing in level I hospitals, and significantly increasing in level III hospitals from 1989 to 1993. After controlling for changes in maternal characteristics over time, changes in HMO penetration at the hospital level were not significantly associated with an increasing proportion of LBW or VLBW deliveries at nonlevel III hospitals. In some analyses, increasing HMO penetration actually was significantly associated with decreasing LBW and VLBW deliveries at nonlevel III hospitals., Conclusion: Despite continued growth in HMOs throughout the state, the trend toward deregionalization in Washington State noted in the early 1990s has not continued. At the hospital level, the increasing presence of HMOs is not significantly associated with perinatal deregionalization.

Cooperative in Seattle overcame professional resistance and a corporate reorganization on its way to implementing protocols that drastically cut LOS for lumbar laminectomy.

This paper presents the conceptual framework and implementation strategies of a relationship-focused behavioral intervention for pregnant women and their families. The program, PrePare ('Prenatal Parenting'), was designed as a prenatal precursor to the pediatric health care model, Healthy Steps. PrePare includes preventive intervention elements that address parents' universal concerns about pregnancy and parenthood, as well as specific activities to support optimum pregnancy health and reduce high-risk behaviors. As described here, the program is embedded within a large not-for-profit health-maintenance organization (HMO). Delivery of the prenatal component is carried out by Healthy Steps interventionists through three home visits and telephone follow-up during mothers' second and third trimesters of pregnancy. An evaluation of program outcomes is underway. The design compares three groups of families, those who receive PrePare followed by Healthy Steps, Healthy Steps alone and a usual HMO-practice comparison. It is hypothesized that initiating expanded services during the prenatal period will lead to increases in reported patient satisfaction, provider satisfaction and organizational efficiency within the health care delivery system.

We examined patterns of care for 1246 adults treated for bipolar disorder in a large health maintenance organization. Computerized pharmacy and visit data were used to identify patients treated for bipolar disorder. Automated medical records for the following year were used to assess continuity and dosing of treatment with mood stabilizers, laboratory monitoring for adverse effects and therapeutic serum levels, and frequency of follow-up visits. Of our 1246 subjects 83% filled a mood stabilizer prescription during the 1-year study period, and doses were within recommended ranges 80% of the time. Over 75% of the patients on mood stabilizers had at least one apparent interruption in medication use. Approximately half of the long-term users of mood stabilizers had at least one 7-month period without a recorded blood level and approximately half had a similar period without monitoring for adverse medication effects. Of the 116 subjects discharged from a psychiatric hospitalization 58% had a visit with a psychiatrist or a psychiatric nurse practitioner within 30 days. Of those discontinuing mood stabilizer treatment 68% made a mental health visit within 90 days. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of using administrative data systems for population-based quality of care assessment and suggest opportunities for improving the care of bipolar patients.

Objective: To determine whether a new model of primary care, Chronic Care Clinics, can improve outcomes of common geriatric syndromes (urinary incontinence, falls, depressive symptoms, high risk medications, functional impairment) in frail older adults., Design: Randomized controlled trial with 24 months of follow-up. Physician practices were randomized either to the Chronic Care Clinics intervention or to usual care., Setting: Nine primary care physician practices that comprise an ambulatory clinic in a large staff-model HMO in western Washington State., Participants: Those patients aged 65 and older in each practice with the highest risk for being hospitalized or experiencing functional decline., Intervention: Intervention practices (5 physicians, 96 patients) held half-day Chronic Care Clinics every 3 to 4 months. These clinics included an extended visit with the physician and nurse dedicated to planning chronic disease management; a pharmacist visit that emphasized reduction of polypharmacy and high-risk medications; and a patient self-management/support group. Control practices (4 physicians, 73 patients) received usual care., Measurements: Changes in self-reported urinary incontinence, frequency of falls, depressive symptoms, physical function, and satisfaction were analyzed using an intention-to-treat analysis adjusted for baseline differences, covariates, and practice-level variation. Prescriptions for high-risk medications and cost/utilization data obtained from administrative data were similarly analyzed., Results: After 24 months, no significant improvements in frequency of incontinence, proportion with falls, depression scores, physical function scores, or prescriptions for high risk medications were demonstrated. Costs of medical care including frequency of hospitalization, hospital days, emergency and ambulatory visits, and total costs of care were not significantly different between intervention and control groups. A higher proportion of intervention patients rated the overall quality of their medical care as excellent compared with control patients (40.0% vs 25.3%, P = .10)., Conclusions: Although intervention patients expressed high levels of satisfaction with Chronic Care Clinics, improved outcomes for selected geriatric syndromes were not demonstrated. These findings suggest the need for developing greater system-wide support for managing geriatric syndromes in primary care and illustrate the challenges of conducting practice improvement research in a rapidly changing delivery system.

A program designed to curb increases in drug costs in an HMO by substituting esterified for conjugated estrogens was developed and studied. Patients were voluntarily switched from conjugated to esterified estrogens at an HMO in Washington State. Women were informed about the conversion through newsletters and during clinic and pharmacy visits and received physician and pharmacist counseling. Cost savings were estimated, and patient acceptance was evaluated by interviewing women in four groups, including women who were switched from conjugated to esterified estrogens and then switched back (C-E-C group), women who were not switched (C-C group), and women who were switched to esterified estrogens and not switched back (C-E group). During the first six months, 14,601 (89.2%) of 16,364 women taking conjugated estrogens were switched to esterified estrogens; of these, 13,654 (93.5%) continued taking esterified estrogens for at least six months. The HMO avoided $653,119 of an expected $750,000 cost increase for oral estrogen therapy during the first year of the program. A total of 754 women were interviewed; 65.8% in the C-E-C group and 78.4% in the C-E group reported being satisfied with the information they received. The conversion experience was rated as positive by 28.3% of women in the C-E-C group and 41.5% of women in the C-E group, negative by 25.1%, and 8.9%, and neutral by 46.6% and 49.6%. An HMO avoided a large increase in drug costs by substituting esterified for conjugated estrogens; only 6.5% of patients were switched back to conjugated estrogens at their physicians' or their own request; most patients thought the conversion was a neutral or positive experience.

Defining where the health care train stops and starts for an elderly population can be a unique challenge. Find out how one initiative defines senior care needs according to a structured roadmap of care.

Objective: To develop methods to identify, recruit, and vaccinate HMO enrollees at increased risk for influenza-related complications as part of a comprehensive influenza campaign., Setting: Group Health Cooperative (GHC) is a large, membership-governed, managed care organization that serves 395,000 members in the Puget Sound area., Approach: An automated pharmacy system and patient data registries were used to identify enrollees with chronic illness. Enrollees with chronic illness and all enrollees 65 years of age and older were considered "high-risk" enrollees to be recruited for vaccination. Postcard reminders coupled with a publicity and education campaign were used to recruit high-risk enrollees to special influenza clinics., Results: Our approach identified 2.5% of children (persons < 18 years of age) and 10.5% of adults (persons 18 to 65 years of age) as chronically ill and thus at high risk for influenza-related complications. Most high-risk children were identified through prescriptions for steroids, autonomic inhalers, or both or because they were enrolled in the asthma registry. Most high-risk adults were identified because of prescriptions for steroids, insulin, or oral hypoglycemic agents; because they had received pneumococcal vaccine; or because they were enrolled in the diabetes registry. Influenza coverage rates for all seniors (persons > or = 65 years of age) increased from 34% in 1984 to more than 72% in the 1996-1997 campaign year. Coverage rates were much lower for high-risk children (36%) and adults (46%)., Conclusions: Influenza coverage rates can still be substantially improved for adults younger than 65 years of age and children at high risk for influenza-related complications.

Group Health Cooperative, a large, membership-governed, staff model health maintenance organization (HMO), has designed a comprehensive influenza campaign for identifying, recruiting and vaccinating enrollees at increased risk for influenza-related complications. The Cooperative's Centre for Health Promotion is responsible for the overall planning, implementation and evaluation of the influenza campaign. The model for delivering influenza immunizations has been designed to build on the strengths and capabilities of a staff model HMO with sophisticated automated information systems. The model permits area medical centres (AMCs) and physicians to use the materials and intervention strategies generated by the Centre for Health Promotion, while at the same time allowing them flexibility to design and use their own intervention strategies to increase compliance. More importantly, the model reduces resource requirements on AMCs and physicians to plan and maintain internal immunization efforts. Recommendations for improving the influenza campaign are discussed.

Objective: To determine the effect of a multifaceted program of support on the ability of primary care teams to deliver population-based diabetes care., Design: Ongoing evaluation of a population-based intervention., Setting/participants: Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, a staff model HMO in which more than 200 primary care providers treat approximately 15,000 diabetic patients., Intervention: A program of support to improve the ability of primary care teams to deliver population-based diabetes care was implemented. The elements of the program are based on an integrated model of well-validated components of delivery of effective care to chronically ill populations. These elements have been introduced since the beginning of 1995, and some aspects of the program were pilot-tested in a few practice sites before being implemented throughout the organization. The program elements include 1) a continually updated on-line registry of diabetic patients; 2) evidence-based guidelines on retinal screening, foot care, screening for microalbuminuria, and glycemic management; 3) improved support for patient self-management; 4) practice redesign to encourage group visits for diabetic patients in the primary care setting; and 5) decentralized expertise through a diabetes expert care team (a diabetologist and a nurse certified diabetes educator) seeing patients jointly with primary care teams., Main Outcome Measures: Patient and provider satisfaction through existing system-wide measurement processes; process measures, health outcomes, and costs are tracked continuously., Results: Patient and provider satisfaction have improved steadily. Interest in and use of the electronic Diabetes Registry have grown considerably. Rates of retinal eye screening, documented foot examinations, and testing for microalbuminuria and hemoglobin A1c have increased substantially., Conclusions: Providing support to primary care teams in several key areas has made a population-based approach to diabetes care a practical reality in the setting of a staff model HMO. It may be an important mechanism for improving standards of care for many diabetic patients.

Introduction: In many clinical settings, effective cancer control is hampered by barriers related to the acute-care orientation of most medical practices. These include: prioritization of medical problems on the basis of urgency; a problem-oriented medical record that provides no ongoing documentation mechanism for cancer screening; conflicting guidelines; and no method for identifying and targeting persons who are eligible for screening. In contrast, HMOs are uniquely suited to deliver effective cancer control as they have already established many of the linkages required for successful primary and secondary prevention., Methods: This paper describes the principles of a population-based approach to cancer prevention and draws on the experience of Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, an HMO in western Washington with more than 20 years' experience in prevention and centralized cancer screening. Methods for selecting and determining priorities among cancer prevention issues, components of successful screening programs, and measures of short- and long-term evaluation are discussed through examples of screening for breast, prostate, cervix, and colorectal cancers., Conclusions: HMOs have provided leadership in the integration of health services and the promotion of continuity of care. Using a population-based approach, cancer prevention programs may be supported by existing automated information services to reduce morbidity and mortality through early detection.

This paper describes the efforts of an HMO to improve its delivery of occupational health services. Customer needs identification, occupational health structure, data systems, case management, clinical guidelines, and quality management are outlined. Our experience suggests that high-quality occupational health services can be integrated into managed care systems thereby offering cost-effective care to large numbers of workers. Comparing 1991 to 1995, physician authorization of total disability days was reduced 17.9% per disability case (p < .0001). Based on July 1994 to June 1995 Oregon State Accident Insurance Fund (SAIF Corporation) data, HMO average total claim cost was $916/claim representing respectively, a 21% and a 20% reduced cost compared to two PPO model programs (MCO 00 and MCO 01). Patient satisfaction data indicated that 90% of patients were satisfied or very satisfied with the physician they saw. The savings appear to be due to cost-effective treatment and rapid return to work.

Frustrated with the paper medical records stored in a central repository, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, a non-profit group model HMO, began using an electronic medical record system in 1995 to better serve its 414,000 members in Oregon and Washington.

After the Northwest Division of Kaiser Permanente implemented EpicCare, a comprehensive electronic medical record, clinicians were required to directly document orders and diagnoses on this computerized system, a task they found difficult and time consuming. We analyzed the sources of this problem to improve the process and increase its acceptance by clinicians. One problem was the use of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9) as our coding scheme, even though ICD-9 is not a complete nomenclature of diseases and using it as such creates difficulties. In addition, the synonym list we used had some inaccurate associations, contributing to clinician frustration. Furthermore, the initial software program contained no adequate mechanism for adding qualifying comments or preferred terminology. We sought to address all these issues. Strategies included adjusting the available coding choices and descriptions and modifying the medical record software. In addition, the software vendor developed a utility that allows clinicians to replace the ICD-9 description with their own preferred terminology while preserving the ICD-9 code. We present an evaluation of this utility.

Recognizing the potential of large databases within HMOs for the evaluation of vaccine safety, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) funded the Vaccine Safety Datalink project, linking outcome and vaccine exposure information at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, Kaiser Permanente Northwest, Kaiser Permanente Medical Care Program Northern California, and Southern California Kaiser Permanente. Integral to the Vaccine Safety Datalink Project was the development of Immunization Tracking Systems at each site; this report describes the effort required to establish these tracking systems. Essential requirements are the methods used to insure data quality and to educate system users. Tracking systems can be a valuable means for assessing vaccine coverage, evaluating barriers to complete immunization, and studying the effectiveness of interventions design to improve immunization coverage. Finally, we report on recent efforts to link HMO Immunization Tracking Systems with developing regional tracking systems.

Home health nurse visit and care coordination time were compared between Medicare patients enrolled in an health maintenance organization (HMO) and in the traditional Medicare fee-for-service program. In home nurse visit time did not differ for the two groups. Coordination time per episode of care was approximately 40 minutes longer for an HMO patient. When home health administrators develop discounted visit rates for HMO contracts, they must include the extra coordination time in the rates.

Staff at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound have undertaken numerous strategies and community alliances in an effort to decrease violence in their community. Beginning with pilot programs and interventions for their own providers and enrollees, programs now focus on strengthening the community, controlling firearms, and supporting youth.

Objective: To determine whether population-based care in a primary care practice results in improvement in compliance with patient care guidelines., Design: Time series analysis., Setting: One primary care practice in Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound (GHC)., Participants: Approximately 1500 enrollees cared for by the practice., Interventions: An ongoing approach to aid clinical planning at the level of the primary care team--population-based care--that depends on clinical guidelines, a computing system to provide epidemiologic data on guideline performance in the practice and reminders, and a process whereby the practice team analyzed and designs interventions for specific clinical problems., Main Outcome Measures: We compared compliance with practice guidelines for preventive care and chronic illness management at baseline and after 18 months in the intervention population with other patients in the same clinic and with patients in GHC as a whole., Results: Compliance with breast cancer screening and colorectal cancer screening guidelines in the intervention population increased from baseline 32% and 18% respectively. These increases were significantly greater than in the remainder of the clinic or in GHC as a whole., Conclusions: The availability of practice-based data, clinical guidelines and a local intervention design process resulted in significant improvements in compliance with patient care guidelines.

Group Health Cooperative (GHC) of Puget Sound is developing, within a framework of quality improvement, a comprehensive population-based approach to decreasing the prevalence of tobacco use. Broad organizational support has been obtained, centralized support is being integrated with clinic-level activity, local ownership of outcomes is encouraged with empowerment of health care teams, and support for community and policy-based activities is being provided. GHC's smoking prevalence has decreased from 25% to 15.5% over the past decade, while the state of Washington's prevalence declined from 23.7% to 21.8%.