Health Care Debate Looks to Group Health for Answers

Sept. 5, 2009

Group Health continues to attract national attention as an example of affordable, patient-centered health care delivery.

On Sept. 5, Executive Vice President Pam McEwan, family physician Barbara Detering, and board member Ann Daley spoke to the Associated Press about Group Health and its consumer-governed model.

On Sept. 4, The News Hour With Jim Lehrer aired a report on whether a cooperative health plan can work on a national level. The interview included Group Health President and CEO Scott Armstrong, Detering, and board member Jerry Campbell.

On Aug. 23, Armstrong was interviewed on C-SPAN's Newsmakers, where he explained how a health care cooperative works and the role cooperatives might play in a new national health care system. On the same day, the Seattle Times's Sunday cover story about Group Health reported on the history of the cooperative, how Group Health operates, and its viability as a model for national health care reform.

On Aug. 21, the USA Today Money section featured a story about Group Health and health care cooperatives.

On Aug. 19, McEwan spoke with Joanne Silberner on National Public Radio's Morning Edition about how Group Health operates and how we care for our members. On the same day, the Boston Globe interviewed Barbara Detering, who attributed Group Health's success to being patient-controlled and nonprofit. She also credited our more conservative, evidence-based approach to medicine.

Detering also spoke with Bloomberg News about what a cooperative is and what it's like for a doctor to work for a cooperative. She explained how her incentives are providing quality care and helping her patients become healthier rather than trying to get as many patients through the door and performing numerous procedures for reimbursement.

On Aug. 18, The New York Times' Timothy Egan, in his Outposts blog, profiled the success of Group Health and the cooperative concept in politically conservative northern Idaho. Based on its success there, he argues that the cooperative model deserves a fair hearing, unlike the public model, which has fallen victim to misleading attacks.

On Aug. 10, at the invitation of the White House, Group Health Chief Medical Executive Michael Soman, MD, joined medical experts from around the country in a discussion of how to build and sustain an advanced primary care system.

In a meeting carried nationwide on C-SPAN, Soman described Group Health's medical home model, first tested at Factoria Medical Center and now being implemented in all 26 Group Health medical centers. He cited the reduction in emergency and urgent care visits and the rise in patient and staff satisfaction that have resulted from the new care approach. The discussion was led by the Obama administration's Health Reform Office.

On July 7, a front-page article in The New York Times cited our electronic medical records and collaborative model of primary care as possible elements of a bipartisan health care solution.

Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Kevin Sack spent two days at Group Health, touring Factoria Medical Center's medical home with Harry Shriver, MD, talking about electronic medical records with Matt Handley, MD, and visiting with Eric Larson, MD, and his team at the Group Health Research Institute (formerly the Center for Health Studies).

Kevin Sack also met with Jerry Campbell and members Tom Brewer, Jean Muir, Stuart Grover, Judith Smith, and Aubrey Davis, a founding member and president emeritus of Group Health.

The spotlight on Group Health started with an article by Atul Gawande, MD, in the June 1 issue of The New Yorker magazine about McAllen, Texas, one of the most expensive health care markets in the country. Attention grew as U.S. Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad mentioned the Group Health example when proposing cooperatives as a solution to health care reform.

This coverage coincided with Armstrong's previously scheduled visit to Washington, D.C., to talk about health care reform. Armstrong had interviews with several major news networks, including the BBC, CNN, and Fox News.

On June 18, Armstrong blogged live with The Washington Post, discussing the Senate proposal for a national cooperative health plan and fielding questions about health care reform and Group Health's model.

"The interest continues to grow in Group Health," said Katie McCarthy, Group Health's senior media consultant. "The BBC called after finding Group Health, thanks to the Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care, and wanted to know how we were so affordable and cost effective."