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October 19, 2007 at 10:26 AM
New Jersey’s health maintenance organizations have held steady in most performance categories, but their customer satisfaction measures fell somewhat in 2006, according to the state’s latest ranking.
The 11th annual HMO report card, issued by the Department of Banking and Insurance, found little or no change in 10 of 12 clinical performance areas, the exceptions being control of high blood pressure and cholesterol management of heart patients. DOBI attributed those declines, however, to changes in measurement standards by the National Committee for Quality Assurance, the system on which it bases the report card.
Other clinical areas evaluated were testing for breast cancer, testing for cervical cancer, check-ups for new mothers, immunization for children, management of medicine for depression, medication of children with asthma, post-hospitalization care for mental illness, blood-sugar testing for diabetics, beta blocker treatment after a heart attack and eye exams for diabetics.
In customer satisfaction, the percentage of consumers who rated their HMO at least a 9 on a scale of 0 to 10 dropped from 36% to 33%, while the percentage who said they never had a problem getting the doctor or specialist they needed tumbled from 76% to 44%.
