UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Since its formation in July 2014 by President Eric Barron, the Penn State Health Care Advisory Committee has identified areas of opportunity for improved administration and use of health care by the University and its faculty and staff in an effort to develop a sustainable path for health care and medical provider delivery.
“The need to keep health insurance costs in check while improving employee health is paramount to the physical and financial well-being of the employee population and to the fiscal health of Penn State, and has been identified by President Barron as a key issue facing the University,” said David Gray, Senior Vice President for Finance and Business. “Penn State’s spending for health care exceeds $600,000 per day and more than $220 million per year, and these costs continue to increase each year.”
The committee is comprised of faculty, staff and administrators who have expertise in the health care field or who have direct responsibility for health-care related work for the University. Members include health care practitioners; academic experts in the disciplines of health care and insurance; and administrative representatives for human resources, budget and finance.
The first area for improvement identified by the committee involves health care as it relates to the insured population, particularly medical care consumerism, communication and education regarding health care plans and utilization.
The second area is the improvement of regional health care provider availability and pricing. The third is for the University to gain a better understanding of the health of its population, its medical care utilization and options for health plan design.
The committee has identified a number of actions to begin to address these areas for improvement. Among the priorities are:
- Promoting use of lower-cost, high-quality medical services among employees
- Improving price and quality transparency for employees
- Increasing and improving employee education and communication
- Encouraging employees to engage in health care plan selection so that they are choosing the most fiscally beneficial plan for themselves
- Building a clinically-integrated provider network within the University Park region
- Building robust analytic capability and capacity to support evidence-based decision-making.
At its most recent meeting in February, the committee identified guiding principles that will be the foundation of a long-term strategic plan for health care. These guiding principles and strategic direction will be shared with the University community later this spring.
The Health Care Advisory Committee was formed following the Health Care Task Force report released in April 2014. The task force was formed in late 2013 and was charged with examining health care at Penn State. It provided a framework of strategies for keeping university health insurance costs down, improving employee health and better communicating changes about employee health and health care.
The committee, which meets monthly, began its work by reviewing the task force’s report in detail, researching a variety of practices and principles related to health care spending and utilization, and problem-solving for a number of long-term and immediate key issues.
“The ongoing changes in the health care system mean new challenges will continue to appear and make it necessary for the University to be proactive as we strive to be an employer that leads in health care access, quality and affordability,” said committee member Dennis Shea, associate dean and professor in Health and Human Development. “I see our committee goal to be to provide advice and guidance that will help Penn State be a leader in employee health and health benefits and help Penn State employees and their families have excellent access to affordable and high-quality health care as they maximize their potential for a healthy life.”