Alliance of Community Health Plans

The Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP) has released a new report, “Strengthening Primary Care for Patients,” describing the efforts undertaken by 17 ACHP member organizations to improve the health care system by transforming primary care. The report focuses on key components of primary care redesign and the potential for improved patient care. It is the third publication in ACHP’s “Health Plan Innovations in Patient-Centered Care” series, which highlights the essential role health plans play in improving care quality, enhancing patient experience and reducing health care costs.

The Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP) announced today that Michael W. Cropp, M.D., president and CEO of Independent Health in Buffalo, N.Y., has been elected by his colleagues as the new chair of the organization’s Board of Directors. Dr. Cropp succeeds Scott Armstrong of Group Health Cooperative of Seattle, Washington, who served as chair of ACHP’s Board of Directors for the last two years.

Community-based health plans are taking a variety of approaches to reduce the misuse of prescription painkillers while assuring patients in pain get the relief they need, according to a report released today by the Alliance of Community Health Plans (ACHP). The report, “Ensuring Safe and Appropriate Prescription Painkiller Use: The Important Role of Community Health Plans,” profiles 16 ACHP member plans that are working closely with community-based organizations in states across the country.

Three new plans will go on sale in July in western New York, two of which will be offered by Independent Health. The new plans emphasize care coordination, disease management and wellness, performance measurement and payment methods that reward physicians to control costs.

Geisinger Health System announced plans to partner with Indivumed, a leading provider of services enabling individualized cancer therapy, a relationship that will afford Geisinger patients access to advanced cancer treatment and clinical trials.

Nearly all Kaiser Permanente hospitals have once again received an A grade for patient safety — and none lower than a B — in The Leapfrog Group’s latest Hospital Safety Score report, released this week.