Individuals enrolled in Apple Health (Medicaid), Public Employees Benefits Board, and School Employees Benefits Board coverage - and those accessing behavioral health services - will not experience a disruption in care due to the federal government shutdown. In addition, health care providers will continue to be paid for the services they provide. We will continue to monitor the situation closely and share updates if anything changes.
At Health Care Authority (HCA), we use information to make decisions about our programs and services. Three major ways we do this are:
As an agency on Governor Jay Inslee's cabinet, we participate in his continuous quality improvement efforts. Results Washington uses the latest technology to gather, review, and display performance data so Washington residents can see how well state government and partners are delivering services and meeting performance goals. HCA's measures are in Results Washington Goal 4: Healthy and Safe Communities.
Mirroring the Governor's Results Washington program, we have a system for measuring HCA's progress on core processes and key outcomes. Examples include managing the agency's financial resources, following our information technology (IT) strategic plan, and ensuring access to care.
Our fundamentals map is the "big picture" view of our business processes. We use it to connect HCA employees and the public to the agency's work and mission. We review our measures every quarter to track whether we are meeting our targets and to problem-solve when we need to improve.
In partnership with the Performance Measures Coordinating Committee, HCA developed a set of performance measures, called the Washington Statewide Common Measure Set. These measures show the quality and cost of the health care delivered in our state.
These measures also provide a standard way of comparing health care performance across multiple health systems. Through value-based purchasing, HCA ties health care payments to quality measures that improve the care and health of Washington residents.
