Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council

MA Health Care Quality and Cost Council struggles to stay in existence

Anne Zieger — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 09:23:54 -0400

Are state agencies aimed at containing the cost of health care going the way of the dinosaurs? It definitely seems that way as we see that the Massachusetts Health Care Quality and Cost Council is fighting for its life. Remember that just a few weeks ago, we reported that the nationally-recognized Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) is likely to cease to exist on November 30 of this year. Little wonder that at least one other similar council is on the rocks in this faltering economy.

The trouble started when the MA governor decided to take away $700,000 of the council's $1.8 million budget. For a while expectations were that the council would be shut down and its functions shifted elsewhere, but the council itself is trying to reorganize itself to stay in existence within the new budget. In the coming weeks we will see whether its bid to stay alive is successful--and whether any other similar councils will falter.

To learn more about this problem:
- read this Boston Business Journal piece

Related Article:
PA senators work to save PHC4

PA senators work to save PHC4

Anne Zieger — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 09:22:06 -0400

If things remain as they are, it seems that the nationally-recognized healthcare data monitoring agency known as the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4) will die on November 30. However, two PA senators are working to make sure that it is resurrected as soon as possible.

Ordinarily, the fall of a small state agency wouldn't attract much attention. But in this case, things are different. The council has been important, not just in Pennsylvania, but around the country for its reports on trends in medical costs, such as a recent study concluding that in-hospital death rates for heart-bypass surgery patients in Pennsylvania hit their lowest level in more than a decade during 2006. All told, the PHC4 has kept a particularly sharp eye on key cost and quality trends in the state, setting a standard for other states to follow.

The agency officially went out of business in early July, but Pennsylvania governor Ed Rendell (D) temporarily extended its life. However, that extension only lasts until November 30, and the Pennsylvania Senate has gone home for the year without an agreement to extend its life further.

Fortunately, two Pennsylvania senators, Wayne Fontana (D) and Pat Vance (R), have promised to do their best to push through an agreement as quickly as possible after the Senate returns in January.

To learn more about the council:
- Read this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette piece

Study: PA hospital death rates for heart-bypass surgery hit new low

Anne Zieger — Thu, 18 Sep 2008 11:56:41 -0400

New research from a state group has concluded that the in-hospital death rate for heart-bypass surgery patients in Pennsylvania hit its lowest level in more than a decade during 2006. Bypass patient readmission rates also fell between 2005 and 2006, according to the report from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council (PHC4), which focused on coronary bypass and heart-valve procedures.

According to the PHC4, the 2006 bypass mortality rate was 1.8 percent, or about half the 1990 rate. Of the 16,663 patients who had coronary bypass and/or heart-valve procedures, 1,048, or more than 6 percent, got infections during their hospital stays.

In 2006, 5.4 percent of bypass patients were readmitted to a hospital within a week of their discharge, down from 5.5 percent in 2005. Thirteen percent of those patients were readmitted within 30 days in 2006, compared with 13.6 percent in 2005.

Meanwhile, Medicare reimbursement to hospitals for such patients was $30,423 for bypass patients, $42,128 for patients who had heart-valve surgery and $45,620 for patients who had both procedures, according to the PHC4's data. (Comparable private health insurer data wasn't available, the PHC4 said.)

To learn more about this study:
- read this piece from The Associated Press
- read the PHC4 report

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PA hospitals' overall financial health improves

Thu, 12 Jun 2008 06:59:55 -0400

A new report from the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council concluded that while the overall financial health of the state's hospitals improved, small community hospitals in rural areas didn't perform as well. The agency concluded that many of the state's 170 hospitals improved their performance in fiscal 2007, though the rising cost of uncompensated care was a big issue. Uncompensated care was up $74 million this year, or 12.2 percent, to $678 million.

Among the best performances were the University of Pennsylvania Health System, whose dominant hospital, Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, made almost $215 million from patient care last year, along with another $55 million in investment and endowment income. The hospital's operating margin was a whopping 14.28 percent in an area where 4 to 5 percent margin is considered a reasonable result. At the other end, Tenet-owned Hahnemann University Hospital had an operating margin of 18 percent, a loss of $65 million.

To find out more about the state's hospital market:
- read this article from The Philadelphia Inquirer

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Hospital rates for some PA HMOs patients rising

Fri, 04 Apr 2008 07:59:56 -0400

For decades, it's looked like HMOs had pretty much cracked the problem of keeping hospitalization rates at a minimum across broad populations. But for some reason, that doesn't seem to be the case in Pennsylvania, where in 2006, more adults were hospitalized for various illnesses, and more children for asthma. These stats are courtesy of the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council, an agency that analyzes hospital finances and care quality. Among other key trends, the agency found that for the nine major for-profit HMOs studied, 105.9 of every 10,000 patients were hospitalized with diabetes, up from 94.3 during the previous year. Meanwhile, patients hospitalized for gastrointestinal infections rose from 3.9 to 4.8 of 10,000 during the same period, with children hospitalized for asthma going up from 14.7 to 18.5. Oddly enough, despite these trends, the HMOs performed at or above national averages in most preventive care categories. The agency has said that it doesn't know why the numbers went up.

To learn more about the study:
- read this Philadelphia Inquirer piece

PA puts hospital quality data online

Wed, 19 Mar 2008 07:59:55 -0400

A Pennsylvania group has launched a new website offering quality reports that compare hospital performance and outcomes for the state. On the site, which includes data from all 162 primary acute care hospitals in the state, users can look up which hospitals have the best record in relation to certain conditions like heart attacks, heart failure or rates of hospital-acquired infections. Users can compare hospitals to each other, as well as to state and national averages for quality of care. They also can search for individual hospitals by ZIP code, county or name. The hospital data, which is being published by the Pennsylvania Health Care Quality Alliance, comes from CMS, the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council and the Joint Commission. This makes Pennsylvania one of less than a dozen states to offer such comparative information.

To learn more about this effort:
- visit its site
- read this Associated Press article

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