Overheard @: Health care stakeholders comment on Obama budget

Following this morning's announcement of President Obama's budget proposals, which make significant investments in health care reform, benefits experts offered their opinions:

Tracey Moorhead, president of DMAA, lauded the budget for channeling "health care dollars to where they are needed most: prevention and care strategies shown to create value and improve outcomes. His plan also recognizes the basic need to help the uninsured and underinsured maintain health status, rather than become costly victims of chronic illness."

Karen Ignagni, AHIP president and CEO also released a favorable statement, saying, “Today’s budget submission sends a signal to the American people that this Administration is serious about prioritizing health care. We applaud the president for laying out a bold framework and setting aside significant resources to put our nation on a path towards comprehensive health care reform, which is a goal that has eluded our country for more than a century." (Click here to read the full statement.)

Tip of the Day: Measure your disease management provider satisfaction

A new survey tool from DMAA allows employers, health plans, disease management companies and other stakeholders to better understand providers' experiences with and attitudes toward population health improvement programs. The organization developed the tool because the "success of disease management, wellness and other population-based interventions can depend on the satisfaction of providers, who play an important role by referring patients and managing and coordinating patient care."

A recent DMAA survey shows that physician engagement was ranked among the three strongest determinants of program success."The better we understand provider attitudes toward population health management, the better able we are to make program changes that enhance that relationship and improve patient care," says DMAA President and CEO Tracey Moorhead. "Health care purchasers value patient and provider satisfaction. Our survey provides a simple, validated tool to measure that."

The tool is available for free at DMAA's Web site. Click here to download it.