Humana understands that the majority of medical errors are caused by communication or systems problems, not incompetence. Researchers say the complex and fragmented nature of today's health care system may increase members' risk. When members see a variety of doctors at different facilities, communication sometimes breaks down. In other cases, communication between the patient and caregiver is faulty.
In an effort to combat this problem, Humana verifies that physicians in our networks meet certain requirements. We also provide members with tools to improve patient safety. Those tools are located within the secure MyHumana member page. Some of the online tools members can use include:
- MyHealth Record: Helps members keep track of their complete medical history. MyHealth Record includes sections on the member's doctors and pharmacies, medical benefits, emergency contact information, medical conditions and procedures, family history, immunizations, medications and supplements, drug allergies, and other allergies. Members can access and print the record from any computer with secure Web access.
- Compare Hospitals Tool: Lets members rank hospitals based on the number of similar procedures performed, complication rates, mortality rates, and other factors. The tool includes data for more than 170 procedures. It also shows hospitals that abide by Leapfrog standards for patient safety.
- Clinical Drug Library and Healing Kitchen: With these two tools, members can look up interactions and side effects, as well as benefits of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, herbs, supplements, and even foods.
In addition, our Website, www.humana.com, provides links to Websites with more information about patient safety:
- The Leapfrog Group for Patient Safety
- Bridges to Excellence
- AHRQ (Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality) – Consumers & Patients Website
- National Patient Safety Foundation
- Consumer Reports – Hospital Report Card
Humana is taking the following actions regarding Leapfrog initiatives:
- Communicating by letter with hospitals every six months, encouraging them to make their data available to the Leapfrog Group
- Communicating with physicians on Leapfrog through articles in "Your Practice"
- Making Leapfrog information available to our members along with other hospital performance information through our hospital comparison tool hosted by HealthShare Technologies
- Creating a special "landing page" on patient safety which includes information about Leapfrog and other patient safety initiatives, and provides tips on choosing a hospital as well as encouragement to use the comparison tool
- Developing material in PlanProfessorsm on how to choose a hospital, background on patient safety, information on Leapfrog
- Becoming a member of the Leapfrog Group in 2004
- Piloted a program in Memphis that provided incentives (minor financial, major publicity) to the Baptist Memorial health system for reporting their data and agreeing to work toward the Leapfrog standards; negotiated specific objectives in the domains of the standards that bring the hospitals closer to compliance with the Leapfrog standards; planning expansion to one or two other markets in 2004 based on the success of this program
- In the process of developing, in association with HealthShare, a "hospital value index" that combines cost information with quality measures, including Leapfrog, to identify hospitals that might be considered both efficient and effective