BY TIM BONFIELD
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A national study ranks Cincinnati and Cleveland among eight cities where business-led health coalitions have made dramatic changes in local health care costs and quality.
The study, called the Spillover Effect, was published earlier this month by the Business Roundtable, an association of 200 chief executive officers of leading U.S. companies. It features nine individual corporations and eight business coalitions whose efforts have changed health care not just for their employees, but for entire communities.
The study -- released as Congress considers tougher regulations on managed care -- asserts that business-led health reforms have made federal health mandates unnecessary.
"All across America, businesses are achieving what big government cannot . . . improving the quality of health care at the local level without driving up costs," said Tony Burns, chief executive of Ryder System Inc. and chairman of the Business Roundtable's health and retirement task force.
The Spillover Effect study features the Health Improvement Collaborative of Greater Cincinnati and Cleveland's Health Quality Choice project as prime examples of business leadership in health reform.
In 1992, four leading Cincinnati employers -- Procter & Gamble, Cincinnati Bell, Kroger and General Electric Aircraft Engines -- rocked the Tristate hospital industry with the Iameter study, which compared costs and lengths of stay.
The Iameter study touched off a wave of hospital downsizings and alliances while pressuring every doctor in town to find ways to shorten hospital stays. Now, local hospitals consistently rank lower than national averages on cost while faring well on national quality measures.
The Iameter study has evolved into a wider organization of corporate, insurance and medical interests -- the Health Improvement Collaborative of Cincinnati. The group publishes reports comparing local hospitals and community health trends. It also plans to launch more public health awareness programs.
"The spillover effect doesn't happen just in health care," said Helen Habbert, the collaborative's executive director. "Employer efforts in general to improve life for their employees tend to have a spillover effect for the entire community."
The Spillover Effect authors say the successes in Cincinnati and other cities demonstrate that the marketplace can handle health reform without federal intervention.
But some consumer advocates disagree. They say federal reforms are needed to make sure all Americans get fair health coverage. "On one hand, some of these business groups have done some very valuable work," said Ron Pollack, executive director of Families USA. "But the market is limited in its ability to drive quality. "For most people, whatever (health benefits) the employer offers, that's it. There's no opportunity for people to vote with their feet, so there really isn't a market."
