Phoenix, AZ and Washington, DC November 12, 2009 -- The National Business Coalition on Health (NBCH), a non-profit organization of employer-based health coalitions, recognized Safeway, Inc. with the Employer Excellence in Value-Based Purchasing Award and the Health Action Council Ohio with the Value-Based Purchasing Membership Award. The recipients of this year’s awards were recognized yesterday at NBCH’s annual conference in Phoenix for their leadership and efforts to improve the quality and efficiency of the health care delivery system, control health care expenditures at the community level and improve the health of employees.
Employers and coalitions play a critical role in reforming the health care system by demanding quality and value in care deliveryWe are proud to recognize these industry innovators and provide a forum to communicate best practices for the efforts of health care purchasers to improve health and health care.We appreciate the recognition from NBCH, and commend their work on behalf of employers to improve the efficiency of our nation’s health care system “Employers and coalitions play a critical role in reforming the health care system by demanding quality and value in care delivery,” said Andrew Webber, president and CEO, NBCH. “We are proud to recognize these industry innovators and provide a forum to communicate best practices for the efforts of health care purchasers to improve health and health care.”
Safeway
Safeway Inc., one of the largest food and drug retailers in North America, is a leader in the health care reform debate, calling for information transparency that supports market efficiency and delivery system re-engineering. A longtime member of the Pacific Business Group on Health, the company was recognized for its numerous quality measurement and transparency initiatives that include performance reporting at the health plan, medical group, hospital- and physician-level.
Safeway has aligned its corporate communications and brand strategy to support healthy eating and active lifestyles. Recognizing obesity as a key cost driver, Safeway recently collaborated with over 40 major food and beverage manufacturers and food retailers to advance programs for a Healthy Weight Commitment Foundation (burn 1,750 additional calories and consume 1,750 calories less per week). Additionally, its contributions to community health include cancer prevention and early diagnosis, with fundraising efforts having netted more than $100 million to date.
“We appreciate the recognition from NBCH, and commend their work on behalf of employers to improve the efficiency of our nation’s health care system,” said Ken Shachmut, executive vice president, Safeway Health.
Health Action Council Ohio
NBCH presented Health Action Council Ohio (HAC) with its 2009 Value-Based Purchasing Membership Award. HAC is an Ohio-based non-profit coalition of purchasers dedicated to affordable, high-quality medical care. HAC members include more than 200 employers such as American Electric Power, Nationwide Insurance, Jo-Ann Stores, Parker Hannifin Corporation, Progressive Corporation, the Sherwin-Williams Company, and the State of Ohio.
HAC was recognized for its support of payment reform and value-based purchasing through its growing group purchasing programs (endorsed by the Ohio Business Roundtable), best practice sharing and eValue8™. HAC is also a founding partner in Better Health Greater Cleveland, a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Aligning Forces for Quality project that measures improvements in the care and outcomes of persons with chronic medical conditions.
The Employer Excellence in Value-Based Purchasing Award is sponsored by Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems. The 2009 Value-Based Purchasing Membership Award is sponsored by AstraZeneca.
About the National Business Coalition on Health
NBCH is a national, non-profit, membership organization of nearly 60 employer-based health care coalitions, representing over 7,000 employers and approximately 25 million employees and their dependents across the United States. NBCH and its members are dedicated to value based purchasing of health care services through the collective action of public and private purchasers. For additional information visit: www.nbch.org.
