From Newsweek to the National Committee for Quality Assurance, numerous sources provide health care ratings, but they don't always agree. Furthermore, the health plan your business wants to consider may not even be rated. Cost is an essential ingredient in choosing a health care provider for small businesses. Yet knowing you will get what you pay for is not easily determined beforehand-if at all.
Businesses measure value in a health plan differently than individual consumers.
Consumers may wish to look at ease of access to health providers, quality and credentials of physicians, and data on average outcomes of different types of illnesses. While businesses should be concerned about these measures of quality, they will probably also want to know about customer service. Joel Hyatt, director of care management for the Southern California Medical Group of Kaiser Permanente agrees. In the future, value will be most important. Consumer surveys, like those published by Newsweek and U.S. News and World Report , are based on standardized reports of patient satisfaction.