UnitedHealthcare in Indiana joins IHIE's Quality Health First program

Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) today announced UnitedHealthcare in Indiana, which insures more than 500,000 people throughout the state, recently joined IHIE's Quality Health First (QHF) program. The QHF program is designed to deliver better health outcomes for physicians and their patients, and will serve as UnitedHealthcare's quality reporting tool for primary-care physicians in Indiana, helping them better manage patients' health conditions and preventive care efforts.

The QHF program is a groundbreaking approach to quality healthcare, benefiting both physicians and patients, and reducing the overall cost of care. Designed by IHIE and the Employers' Forum of Indiana, the QHF program is built upon a system that securely aggregates and delivers important patient information such as lab results, medication and treatment histories, and other clinical data in a standardized, electronic format, across all providers. It's free to physicians, and provides crucial patient information, such as those due for preventive screenings and chronic disease follow-up care.

"Supporting quality patient care is a top priority at UnitedHealthcare and in line with our mission of helping people live healthier lives," said Daniel Krajnovich, CEO of UnitedHealthcare, Indiana/Kentucky region. "As one of the leading health insurers in Indiana, we knew it was important to support and join IHIE's Quality Health First program, which we believe will improve physician-patient relationships, improve the cost of healthcare and ultimately improve outcomes. We're proud to be on the cutting edge of driving quality health reporting and outcomes."

Currently more than 900 physicians participate in the QHF program. They receive monthly reports that they can use to proactively monitor patients' preventive and chronic disease care. For example, they can view which patients are getting tests completed, the results of those tests and which patients have yet to come in for testing.

"We applaud UnitedHealthcare for acknowledging the need for cooperation between healthcare providers and healthcare insurers to improve overall patient care," said Dr. J. Marc Overhage, M.D., Ph.D., and President and CEO of the Indiana Health Information Exchange. Overhage also serves as Director of Medical Informatics at the Regenstrief Institute, Inc. "We encourage all Indiana healthcare industry stakeholders - physicians, physician groups, hospitals and employers - to join with UnitedHealthcare and IHIE in committing to progressive healthcare delivery designed to improve care for all Indiana residents."