General Motors Receives Award For Quality Care From National Health Care Purchasing Institute
FOR RELEASE: May 30, 2001General Motors Receives Award For Quality Care From National Health Care Purchasing Institute
Recognizes business strategy focused on driving quality in the health care system.
Washington, DC - General Motors Corporation has been recognized by the National Health Care Purchasing Institute (NHCPI) for using its purchasing power to protect patient safety and improve health care quality.
The award recognizes organizations that demonstrate the use of tools and better purchasing techniques to promote quality for their employees or program beneficiaries. Awardees must also accomplish one or more of the following goals:
- Saving lives - helping to save lives by encouraging the adoption of patient safety initiatives
- Buying quality health plans - buying higher quality health care plans and rewarding performance through financial incentives
- Choosing quality health care - empowering consumers to choose higher quality health plans and providers
GM is the largest private purchaser of health care in the U.S. It provides health care benefits to 1.25 million employees, retirees and their dependents. In 2000, GM spent $3.9 billion to provide health care benefits.
"We reward quality and value by influencing market share, encouraging public recognition, utilizing financial incentives and by endorsing best practices among health care providers" said Jim Cubbin, executive director for Health Care Initiatives at GM. "This award validates that we are working on the right things for our employees, retirees and their families."
"General Motors has done an outstanding job of using its enormous purchasing power to improve the quality of health care for more than a million people nationwide," stated Kevin B. Piper, director of the National Health Care Purchasing Institute. "This is an exemplary company that we are pleased to recognize for its leadership in bringing quality into the health care purchasing equation."
GM is one of five private purchasers to receive the first-ever award. In achieving these goals the winners have undertaken a variety of measures such as: requiring health plans to meet key safety standards as part of their contracts; developing report cards to track and measure the quality of services; embracing purchasing principles designed to promote patient safety and reduce medical errors, i.e. Computerized Physician Order Entry; providing financial incentives to reward quality health plans and enforcing consequences for those who fall below set standards; empowering consumers through shared information, educational materials and incorporating employee feedback into purchasing strategies.
Criteria for choosing the winners spanned across six categories: leadership, action, management and evaluation, vision, teamwork and enrollee involvement. Winners demonstrated their ability and continued commitment to using their role as purchasers of health benefits to ensure the highest quality care, to save more lives and to empower consumers.
GM will receive the award at a Washington D.C. luncheon on Thursday.
General Motors
General Motors , the world's largest vehicle manufacturer, designs, builds and markets cars and trucks worldwide. In 2000, GM earned $5 billion on sales of $183.3 billion. It employs about 372,000 people globally.
GM also operates one of the largest and most successful financial services companies, GMAC, which offers automotive, mortgage and business financing and insurance services to customers worldwide.
GM is investing aggressively in digital technology and e-business within its global automotive operations and through such initiatives as e-GM, GM BuyPower, OnStar and its Hughes Electronics Corp. subsidiary.
GM is working to address several health care challenges, such as overuse, underuse and misuse of medical services, inappropriate prescription drug prescribing practices, and other quality concerns and escalating cost drivers. In addition, GM works in the community and with HMOs and commercial health plan carriers to improve health care quality and patient safety. Cancer research has been a key philanthropic priority for nearly 25 years. GM is committed to helping eradicate cancer and supporting cancer research until the battle is won.
More information on General Motors can be found at www.gm.com.
The National Health Care Purchasing Institute (www.nhcpi.net) was founded to improve health care quality by advancing the purchasing practices of major corporations and governmental agencies, particularly Fortune 500 companies, Medicare, and public employers. Collectively, these executives are responsible for purchasing over $350 billion in health care services for more than 75 million Americans. Objectives are to help health care purchasers save lives, buy higher quality health care, and empower consumers to choose higher quality health plans and providers. The Institute offerings include courses and workshops, technical assistance, convening of experts and working groups, research, and information. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (www.rwjf.org) sponsors the Institute through a grant to the Academy for Health Services Research and Health Policy (www.academyhealth.org).