HealthPartners
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| Type | Nonprofit health care provider |
|---|---|
| Industry | Health care |
| Founded | 1957 |
| Key people | Mary Brainerd, President & Chief Executive Officer |
| Website | healthpartners.com |
HealthPartners is an integrated, nonprofit heath care provider located in Bloomington, Minnesota, offering a number of different heath care plans. It is the largest consumer-governed, nonprofit health care organization in the United States.[citation needed]
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[edit] History
HealthPartners started in 1992, when Group Health and MedCenters Health Plan were merged into a single organization. Its history includes the creation and endorsement of several programs not previously available or popular in the area, such as a certified nurse midwife program, corrective eye surgeries, dental sealants and specialized treatment for burn victims.[1]
[edit] Leadership
Mary Brainerd has been the president and chief executive officer since 1992.[2] Thomas Brinsko is the chairman of the 15-member board of directors. [3]
[edit] Nonprofit health care
The group operates as a nonprofit health care provider[4], serving 1.25 million medical and dental health plan members nationwide. The organization has ownership of its own medical facilities and employs a staff of salaried physicians.
The cost of medical care for HealthPartners members is said to be 8 percent lower than the state average and as much as 38 percent lower than the national average. .[5] Senator Amy Klobuchar (D, Minn.) has praised HealthPartners for emphasizing value over volume of care.[6]
[edit] Health plans
HealthPartners offers a range of health coverage that includes national networks, open-access networks, tiered networks, co-pay plans, deductible plans, self insured plans, Medicare plans, individual plans, dental plans and consumer-driven health plans including health savings accounts. As one of the region's largest open-access health care networks, HealthPartners offers members access to more than 36,000 providers and 200 hospitals in the Midwest. Its national network includes more than 650,000 providers and 6,000 hospitals. HealthPartners also offers benefits such as online patient services, mail-order pharmacy, wellness coaching, discounts on fitness equipment and weight loss programs.
[edit] Clinics and hospitals
HealthPartners Medical Group includes 25 primary care clinics, nine specialty care clinics, eight urgent care clinics, 17 pharmacies, six eye care centers and 16 dental clinics. HealthPartners also operates Regions Hospital, a private, full-service, 427-bed hospital in St. Paul. The freestanding, 27-clinic HealthPartners Specialty Center is also located in St. Paul; hospice services are provided at Hospice of the Lakes in Minneapolis.
Outside the Twin Cities, HealthPartners operates HealthPartners Central Minnesota Clinics (serving the St. Cloud area), Westfields Hospital (a hospital in New Richmond, Wisc.) and the Hudson Hospital & Clinics (offering primary, specialty and emergency services in Hudson, Wisc.).
Lakeview Hospital in Stillwater, MN is also part of the HealthPartners Family of Care
[edit] Workplace clinics
HealthPartners operates on-site health clinics for employees of four different organizations: Hennepin County, Grede Foundries, TURCK and Wilson Tool International. As of early 2009, the average cost of on-site treatment at the downtown Minneapolis clinic for employees of Hennepin County was 9 percent less than a typical outside clinic visit.[7]
[edit] Awards and recognition
The network of clinics and health plans won the National Quality Healthcare Award in 2007.
U.S.News & World Report/NCQA rated HealthPartners among the top 50 best commercial health plans in the nation for four years in a row (2005–2008).[8]
In 2006, HealthPartners received the American Medical Group Association's national Acclaim Award for excellence in patient care.[9]
Modern Healthcare named HealthPartners one of the best places to work in health care.
HealthPartners is the national benchmark in seven areas in a 2008 report sponsored by the National Business Coalition on Health.[10]
HealthPartners ranks “Highest in Member Satisfaction among Commercial Health Plans in the Minnesota-Wisconsin Region” according to J.D. Power and Associates' 2008 National Health Insurance Plan Study.[11]
[edit] See Also
[edit] References
- ^ HealthPartners Innovations from HeathPartners.com
- ^ Selix, Casey. Mary Brainerd: 'the ultimate aim: better health and more accessible, affordable health care.' Minnpost. 16 July 2009.
- ^ Meet the Board: HealthPartners.com
- ^ Hill, Miriam. Co-ops suddenly are the talk of health care. The Philadelphia Inquirer. 18 Aug. 2009.
- ^ Newmarker, Chris. HealthPartners reform plan: Be more like us. Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal. 29 June 2009.
- ^ Klobuchar, Amy. Amy Klobuchar: Health care lessons from Minnesota. Star Tribune. 17 June 2009.
- ^ Newmarker, Chris. HealthPartners touts workplace clinics’ health and cost benefits. Minneapolis St. Paul Business Journal. 6 Feb. 2009.
- ^ HealthPartners website. HealthPartners among best commercial health plans in the nation for 4th year in U.S. News/NCQA "America's Best Health Plans" 2008.] HealthPartners News Release.
- ^ AMGA Timeline.
- ^ HealthPartners is National Leader in Business Report on Healthcare Quality. Business Wire. 22 Dec. 2008.
- ^ J.D. Power and Associates Reports: HealthPartners Has Highest Member Satisfaction in Minnesota-Wisconsin. Business Wire. 26 June 2008.
