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Wowza recently helped Minnesota Community Measurement design, develop and launch a new website, Minnesota HealthScores. Minnesota HealthScores is a non-profit Website that provides objective information on the quality of health care in Minnesota and surrounding areas.
The new health care site enables health care consumers, providers and employers in the state of Minnesota to access health care quality data online, view and determine how certain types of health care are being provided across the state, and make decisions to help improve the safety, effectiveness and affordability of health care throughout the state. For instance, if a patient has a specific condition, such as high blood pressure, the site allows them to review the scores for the high blood pressure measure to find which medical groups in the patient’s area have the highest scores. The groups with the highest scores are doing a better job of giving patients the right care for the condition.
Patients need information about the quality of care that doctors’ offices provide in order to make informed choices about their own care. Doctors and nurses need information about the quality of care they provide if they are going to works towards improving it. Purchasers of health care, like employers or even individual patients, need information about the value they are getting for their health care dollars.
“Before the team at Wowza designed and built Minnesota HealthScores, it was very difficult for health consumers in Minnesota to access the data,” said Michelle Ferrari, Project Director, Minnesota Community Measurement. “Having this data available should make it easier for health care providers to compare quality of health care in the region, and help empower patients to make better health care decisions.”
Wowza built the dynamic data report which integrates with Minnesota Community Measurement’s central data portal and allows continual data updates and ensures the accuracy and timeliness of the data reported.
Based on data provided by Minnesota health plans, as well as data submitted directly by more than 300 medical clinics statewide, Minnesota HealthScores is used by medical groups and clinics to improve patient care, by employers and patients as vital information about the cost and quality of health care services, and by health plans for their pay-for-performance programs.
The site can also be used to learn about what type of care patients should expect from the health care system, so that patients can discuss it with their health care team. If individuals don’t already have a place where they receive health care or are not satisfied with the care they are currently receiving, individuals can use Minnesota HealthScores to search for a new medical group or clinic.
Patients can search the health care quality data by zip code, county, clinic or provider network to find providers in a patient’s specific area. Clinics can also be compared based on the quality of care they provide for different medical conditions, treatments and prevention.
In addition to Minnesota HealthScores, Wowza is also working on health care quality data reporting projects with Healthy Memphis Common Table in Memphis, Tenn., Puget Sound Health Alliance, Seattle, Wash., and CAHPS III Reports Team to encourage consumer engagement in health care quality data.
Minnesota Community Measurementis (mnhealthscores.org) an independent, non-profit organization with a mission to improve health by publicly reporting health care information. The organization seeks to improve care and support the quality initiatives of providers and the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI); reduce reporting-related expenses for medical groups, health plans, and regulators; and communicate the findings in a fair, usable and reliable way to medical groups, purchasers and consumers.
Founded in 2003 and based in Minneapolis, Wowza (wowzamade.com) is a marketing consulting firm that combines creative and strategic expertise in branding, consumer-centered Web sites, web usability and word of mouth marketing to help clients engage and inspire their customers.
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