IDAHO FALLS, Idaho – When it comes to the delivery of quality health care in Idaho, there’s no such thing as good enough. The pursuit of ever-higher standards of care does not and cannot pause. With that in mind, Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center (EIRMC) and Regence BlueShield of Idaho are partnering on a new reimbursement model designed to not just encourage, but to reward hospitals for meeting challenging national quality and safety standards.
Regence’s Value-based Reimbursement model ties future contract rates to hospital performance on specific quality measures. The measures commonly include such publicly available information as the hospital’s STAR “quality” rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems; the CMS Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey of patient experience; and the facility’s Hospital Safety Score as publicly reported by The Leapfrog Group.
“We’ve long held ourselves to a higher standard of performance,” said Doug Crabtree, EIRMC CEO. “And we’re proud of the external validation we’ve received for our efforts from The Joint Commission and Healthgrades. Our partnership with Regence to further measure ourselves against the highest standards in health care and to be rewarded for our ongoing efforts to achieve ever-better outcomes for our patients is a great opportunity.”
“As someone who’s directly and personally responsible for looking out for the interests of Regence members here in Idaho, I’m extremely pleased to have Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center join us in our statewide effort to improve patient care and better manage health care costs,” said Scott Kreiling, president of Regence BlueShield of Idaho. “We’re delighted to have a provider-partner in EIRMC that agrees with us that everyone involved in health care needs to avoid complacency; to always reach a little higher when it comes to assuring safety, quality and affordability considerations are paramount in the delivery of care for all consumers.”
This new Value-based Reimbursement agreement is the latest example of the successful roll-out of a comprehensive Accountable Health strategy within the Regence family of companies in Idaho, Utah, Oregon and Washington. With EIRMC’s addition, Regence members in Idaho can now choose from a committed network of high quality, affordable hospitals that put patient experience, patient outcome and manageable costs first in nearly every part of the state.
About Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center
The largest medical facility in the region, Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center (EIRMC) is a modern, Joint Commission-accredited, 334-bed full-service hospital located in Idaho Falls.
EIRMC serves as the region’s healthcare hub; offering specialty services including cardiovascular surgery; leading-edge cancer treatment; trauma; neurosurgery; intensive care for adults, children, and infants; and a helicopter and ground medical rescue service. For more information, visit eirmc.com or facebook.com/eirmc.
About Regence BlueShield of Idaho
Regence BlueShield of Idaho, based in Lewiston, has been serving Idahoans for nearly 70 years and now provides more than 141,000 members with comprehensive health insurance solutions. As a nonprofit mutual insurance company and independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, Regence is part of a family of companies dedicated to transforming health care by delivering innovative products and services that change the way consumers in Idaho and nationwide experience health care. For more information, please visit regence.com, facebook.com/regenceblueshieldofidaho or twitter.com/regenceidaho.
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