Published on May 26, 2010
Coordination Provides Exceptional Health Care at a Lower Cost
As Seen In...U.S.News & World Report, June/July 2010
With the recent developments in Washington, the face of health care nationwide will witness many changes over the next several years. And while many of the initiatives in the new federal health care reform law will take years to implement, one common theme has emerged: Health care systems that deliver exceptional care at a lower cost will revolutionize and represent the future of true health care. That's a path Dean Health Plan, a Madison-based insurance company owned by Dean Clinic and SSM Health Care, has been on for more than 25 years.
The challenge facing most of today's health care is that the interests of the three key players - insurers, physicians and hospitals - are misaligned. Typically in most markets, insurance companies profit more when patients don't use services, while physicians and hospitals earn more when their waiting rooms and hospital beds are full. This lack of alignment has resulted in a broken national health care system that focuses more on illness than wellness.
Bob Palmer, CEO
Dean Health Plan
"Health care systems that deliver exceptional care at a lower cost will revolutionize and represent the future of true health care."
In south-central Wisconsin, Dean Health Plan has been approaching health care differently. Dean's model involves all three players responsible for patient care. This includes the physicians of Dean Clinic, with over 100 years of experience providing community-based health care; a network of regional hospitals - including owner/partner hospitals St. Clare Hospital in Baraboo and St. Mary's Hospital in Madison; and Dean Health Plan, the insurance and health plan provider.
Together, they align the interests of doctors, hospitals and insurance providers into one integrated system, sharing the risks and rewards associated with patient outcomes. Dean Health Plan focuses on managed care that encourages all stakeholders to efficiently provide the most effective patient care, and it emphasizes preventive care as well as management of chronic diseases.
This level of patient care also comes with a strong dedication to patient and member satisfaction. Our commitment to continual quality improvement and a heavy emphasis on customer satisfaction, means more than 97 percent of Dean's members return annually. Dean Health Plan consistently rates as a top choice for customers in south-central Wisconsin and regularly receives recognition as one of the nation's top health plans. We also hold an Excellent Accreditation - the highest accreditation available - from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for our commercial HMO product.
No matter where national health care reform settles, integrated systems like Dean are the model that brings lasting improvement in health care. There's no better example of health care integration than Dean Health Plan, Dean Clinic and St. Mary's Hospital.
The integrated Dean system combines Dean Health Plan's innovative insurance coverage with Dean's network of approximately 500 physicians at 58 locations and SSM Health Care of Wisconsin's network of regional hospitals in Madison, Baraboo, Columbus, Stoughton, Dodgeville and Boscobel. For more information, visit www.deancare.com.
