Washington Health Alliance Reports on Health Care Quality Across Washington State

The 16th annual Community Checkup report from the Washington Health Alliance included the results for more than 2200 medical groups, hospitals, clinics, and health plans with the goal of providing transparency into Washington state's health care system.

“This Community Checkup is much more than numbers,” said Nancy Giunto, executive director of the Washington Health Alliance. “It embodies the spirit of the Alliance as a trusted and credible community resource dedicated to the successful collaboration among stakeholders who participate in each step of the Alliance’s reporting with one over-arching goal, improving the health care delivered to all Washingtonians.”

The report utilizes the voluntary All Payer Claims Database to analyze medical claims in calendar year 2020. The database includes claims for more than 4 million people, which is more than half of the state's population.

The claims are used to rank medical groups, clinics, counties, and Accountable Communities of Health using the Quality Composite Score, which compiles performance on 29 measures that are considered strong indicateds of quality primary care.

“We aren’t done yet,” Giunto added. “The Alliance has big plans for more reporting in the coming months. By adding a cost domain to complement our Quality Composite Score, we will shed light on the elusive question, ‘Does paying more mean you get higher quality health care?’ In addition, we will be releasing a new Total Cost of Care report that analyzes costs on the medical group and clinic level.”

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