WellPoint links employee bonuses to member health

WellPoint, by some measures the nation's largest health plan, has decided to take some aggressive steps to promote its new member health index (MHI). WellPoint has begun tying the index, a comprehensive measure of health improvement in its 34 million enrollees, directly to the compensation of every WellPoint employee. While it's increasingly common to compensate physicians for member health improvements, tying all employee bonuses to such a measure may be a first. The MHI includes 20 clinical quality-of-care measures, including measures of prevention and screening, care management, outcomes and safety. Using 2005 data as a baseline, WellPoint intends to analyze performance within many of its subgroups, including Medicare members, Medicaid members and large employer groups. The health plan has begun working toward an MHI performance target for 2010.

To learn more about the initiative:
- read this WellPoint press release [1]
- read this Florida Times Union piece [2]

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