HealthPartners programs designed to improve the quality and efficiency of care reduced medical expenses by nearly $100 million in 2008. The biggest cost savings was in generic drug use, with savings of $64.4 million – more than double the savings from 2007. 

Decision support for diagnostic imaging reduced unnecessary tests and resulted in savings of more than $5.8 million in 2008. This program provides physicians with the latest guidelines from the American College of Radiology to confirm that a test is appropriate. HealthPartners diagnostic imaging program was recognized with the 2008 eValue8 Health Plan Innovation Award from the National Business Coalition on Health.

Other notable cost-saving programs include HealthPartners disease management, case management and behavioral health programs, which led to a savings of nearly $30 million. Learn more about the effectiveness of these programs in 2008.

For the fifth consecutive year, HealthPartners was the top-ranked plan in Minnesota in the eValue8 report conducted by the Buyers Health Care Action Group (BHCAG) and the National Business Coalition on Health.

The 2008 report, which compared both local and national health plans, revealed that HealthPartners set the national benchmark in six out of seven PPO categories:

• Chronic disease management
• Consumer engagement
• Pharmaceutical management
• Plan profile
• Prevention and health promotion
• Provider measurement

HealthPartners also received the Health Plan Innovation Award for our diagnostic imaging program, which helped reduce the number of unnecessary MRI tests by 7,000 in 2007. HealthPartners was one of only four plans in the nation to receive the honor.

Using eValue8, it is possible to compare health plans and understand which are providing the best value. Learn more about eValue8 or view the news release on healthpartners.com.

HealthPartners is putting measures in place to ensure that before a patient chooses back surgery they have been presented all options available, including possibly more effective and less expensive alternatives.

Beginning in February, HealthPartners will require network providers to offer shared decision making to patients considering lumbar spine fusion. The shared decision making process helps patients understand the pros and cons of each option, consider the value they place on each pro and con and participate actively with their doctor in choosing an option.

Currently, surgeons must get prior approval to perform certain lumbar fusion treatments to treat back pain. Other Minnesota commercial health plans don't require providers to obtain prior authorization for spinal fusions, but the state has added a requirement to certain public health insurance programs.

HealthPartners estimates that more than $15 million was spent on approximately 600 spinal fusions in 2007, which is more than $25,000 per surgery. This change was spurred by a four-year analysis by HealthPartners that found some patients were not getting appropriate care for low-back pain and were receiving treatments that aren’t evidence-based.

Learn more about the shared decision making process.

Introducing a new interactive online tool that gives you a “live” view of the Healthy Benefits program. While we plan to continue building this online demonstration, you can use this tool to get an idea of the member experience for this program. The demonstration is located on the Health Solutions page of healthpartners.com/employer. Try it now.

Healthy Benefits is available for groups with 100 members or more. The program has demonstrated direct medical savings of 3.3% over three years and a potential productivity savings of more than double the employee medical savings.

Healthy Benefits combines HealthPartners award-winning health assessment with our nationally recognized wellness programs that adjust to each employee’s preferences and health status. To drive high participation levels in your population, we support you with the right incentives and communications.

HealthPartners will help you choose an incentive and manage implementation. We’ll also provide you with a communications toolkit, reporting and ongoing consultative assistance. For more information, please contact your HealthPartners sales executive or your broker.

A new Institute of Medicine (IOM) report has identified 20 specific health indicators to measure the overall health and well-being of Americans. The indicators will help the IOM track the nation’s progress in improving health and the effectiveness of public healthcare systems.

HealthPartners medical director and chief health officer George Isham chaired the IOM committee that developed the report. "This report takes an important step of capturing the health of the American people with a few key indicators," said Isham.  "Given the gap between the relatively low performance and high costs of our healthcare system, data that is readily accessible on the Internet will be of great value in devising strategies to close this gap." Read the full report.

The IRS has just released an updated Form 8889 for HSA account holders. This form must be attached to tax Form 1040 to report any HSA activity in 2008, including contributions, deductions and distributions. If you offer an HSA plan, you may want to share this information with your employees.

There are some important differences between the 2007 and 2008 version. The 2008 version of Form 8889 reflects the 2008 contribution limits and includes pertinent aspects of IRS guidelines issued during 2008. The updated Form 8889 also shows how to report contributions and distributions of Economic Stimulus Payments. A copy of Form 8889 can be found online at the IRS Web site at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/f8889.pdf.

The instructions for Form 8889 include expanded tips as well. A copy of Form 8889’s instructions can be found online at the IRS Web site at http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-pdf/i8889.pdf.