Which Health Care Metrics Matter?

Please join Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health, the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, Consumer Reports, the National Committee for Quality Assurance, patient advocates, and government leaders for the first in a series of discussions about outpatient health care quality metrics and the information available to and used by consumers.

Throughout the year, various organizations release their rankings of health plans and health care providers.  But what metrics really matter to health care consumers?  Join us for a discussion with national and local quality organizations as well as leading media on how to make the most of these evaluations. Now, more than ever, health care consumers will be looking for ways to compare one health plan or provider against one another. Purely shopping on cost, may end up costing consumers hundreds - if not thousands - of dollars in unexpected costs. See how to get the most value for your health care dollars.

Attendees will be invited to influence recommendations on how to improve the information available to health care consumers.  Future topics of discussion may include a call to action on quality metrics for minorities, for chronic condition management and how to better understand the relationship between quality and out-of-pocket costs as well as consumer satisfaction.

Hosted by The Kaiser Permanente Center for Total Health and the Mid-Atlantic Permanente Medical Group, the discussion will begin with a summary of the latest NCQA rankings.  Then, we will hear from the NQF on research they have conducted over the past year with consumers.  Ultimately we'll examine what the scores mean and the best ways to present and make available information on quality care from a health plans or other providers.  Invited to attend are business leaders, patient advocates, policy organizations as well as traditional and social media.