"The majority of our employees live in either Quincy, IL or Hannibal, MO. For years, we have wanted a network that encompasses both the Quincy and Hannibal markets. Through the Tri-State Health Care Coalition, we are able to access the The HealthLink network which gives us physicians and medical facilities in Quincy and Hannibal, not to mention the solid network coverage in outlying areas where our sales representatives live. As a group of employers working together as one unit, we were able to create a network to include both sides of the river - a network that has been beneficial to us as well as many employers in this area, especially with cost savings.
Additionally, serving as a board member for the Tri-State Health Care Coalition has enhanced my knowledge and understanding of the overall health insurance market as well as the medical community at large."

Darla Rischar
Human Resources Manager
Kohl Wholesale

Informational Links and Articles

Informational Links, articles and Resources about current trends in health care

Controlling Your Health For Life

The Tri-State Health Care Coalition (TSHCC), in cooperation with the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) Foundation invite TSHCC members to participate in the Quincy/Hannibal area Controlling Your Health For Life: Patient Self-Management Program For Diabetes. This value-based benefit design program has proven to improve health and reduce long-term health care costs. Controlling Your Health for Life: Patient Self-Management Program For Diabetes is supported by Pfizer, Inc.

Click here to read more.

Articles:

Patient-Centered Medical Homes
Patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is widely described as a reorganized primary care practice in which the doctor gets paid – more generously than today – not for running patients in and out for standard office visits, but for truly coordinating their care in a cost-effective way. Click her to read more.

Large PBMs Transform Old Business Models
Urged on by employers, the Big 3 are going beyond traditional pharmacy benefit management, stressing consumer interactions and disease outcomes and threatening the existence of captive PBMs. Services to consumers have expanded, and attention has switched from dispensing prescriptions to improving medication outcomes. Click here to learn more.

Retail/Convenient Care Clinics
Convenient care clinics are spreading quickly because members and plans like them. Retail clinics are small medical clinics, open seven days a week, with early morning and evening hours. Staffed by nurse practitioners and set up to diagnose and treat abut 20 common medical conditions, like ear infections, on a walk-in basis for about half the cost of a visit to a traditional primary care physician's office.

To read more, click: Health Plans Embrace Retail Clinics

Health Care Transformation and CEO Accountability
America's CEO and the nation's corporate CEOs must work together to create an accountable health system with the patient at the center.

To read more, click here: Health Care Transformation and CEO Accountability

resources:

Value-Based Purchasing Journal
Value-Based Purchasing is a quarterly newsletter intended to help employers become more effective purchasers of health benefits on behalf of their employees. Contents include tools and practical strategies for employers, as well as evaluative findings and opportunities for readers to share their experiences.

Value-Based Purchasing Journal is available at http://jdc.jefferson.edu/vbp/ .