Saint Paul – Governor Tim Pawlenty today announced initiatives that will help consumers take control of their personal health care information, encourage more patient-directed spending decisions for state employees, and engage Minnesotans in health care policy discussions.

“Minnesota’s health care system must be market-driven, patient-centered, and quality-focused,” Governor Pawlenty said. “Minnesota took a giant step forward to transform our health care system this year. Now Minnesota will lead the nation in the development of portable personal health records and expanded consumer directed health care spending accounts for state employees.”

The Governor announced his proposals in a speech at the annual meeting of the Smart Buy Alliance, a public/private coalition that uses its combined purchasing influence of more than 60 percent of Minnesota’s population to drive improvement in the health care delivery system through market-based principles.

Governor Pawlenty announced the following actions today:

• A proposal to give all Minnesotans access to an online personal health portfolio by 2011. As the first step, the Governor has directed the Department of Finance and Employee Relations (DFER) to seek proposals for a secure and portable online personal health portfolio for each of the state’s approximately 50,000 employees in 2009.

• As a result of better than expected trends with the Minnesota Advantage Health Plan, the Governor directed DFER to establish a Health Reimbursement Account of up to $250 for state employees. The creation of a new debit card will also help state employees better manage their existing Flexible Spending Accounts.

• The Governor directed the Minnesota Department of Health to solicit and gather input from Minnesotans on the health care system and how they can be more engaged in health care decision-making.

• To provide an easier and more convenient way to shop for health care, Minnesota’s private health plans have agreed to provide pricing and quality data on a single website.

Creation of Online Personal Health Care Portfolio

“In health care, information is power. Right now the consumer is the only person in the system without access to their health care information,” Governor Pawlenty said. “We need to turn that around and allow the consumer to build their own health care portfolio, control who has access to it, and take it with them wherever they go for the rest of their lives.”

The online personal health care portfolio is a web-based set of tools that allows consumers to access and coordinate their health information and make appropriate parts of that information available to those who need it. Health information such as prescription history, immunizations, lab results and other medical records from providers and health plans are stored in a system and accessed by consumers once they create their personal portfolio.

The online portfolios will help control costs, increase quality and enhance safety. Parents will be able to save time tracking down immunization records required by schools and sports teams, patients can avoid duplicative tests and procedures and caregivers will avoid working at cross-purposes with each other because the health care information is not in one place.

The Governor announced today that his goal is for all Minnesotans to have this kind of access to and control of their health care information by the year 2011.

To advance this effort, DFER will seek proposals to offer a secure and portable online personal health portfolio to state employees in 2009. The portfolio will offer:

• Electronic access to test results 

• Access to their own medical records electronically

• Instant access to immunization records

• Prescription history & detection of interactions

Health Reimbursement Account of up to $250 for all state employees, new debit card

Recognizing that market-based efforts to contain costs in the state employee health plan are working, Governor Pawlenty announced a plan to provide up to $250 in a Health Reimbursement Account (HRA) for all state employees who elect to receive their care from high quality, low cost providers. The state is able to fund the HRA account to reward its employees because of better-than-expected trends in the Minnesota Advantage Health Plan. The HRA accounts will be made available via debit card in January 1, 2009.

In addition, DFER will also give all state employees a debit card to better manage their health care expenses including access to their existing Flexible Spending Account (FSA). Currently, only 30% of state employees take advantage of these accounts. By eliminating the barriers to participation, such as cumbersome paperwork, it is expected that more state employees will participate in the FSA while current members are likely to increase their current election amounts. FSAs lower taxes for employees, improve the affordability of health care, and make employees more conscientious health care consumers.

Input from Minnesotans on the health care system

The Minnesota Department of Health will lead an effort to identify and emphasize the individual’s role in the health care system. A variety of methods, including web-based tools and interactive forums, will be used to solicit and gather Minnesotans’ input on the health care system and how they can become more engaged in health care decision-making. MDH will also use these tools to gather input and advice regarding implementation of health care reforms passed in 2008.

Pricing and quality data to be available at a single website

At Governor Pawlenty’s urging, Minnesota’s private health plans have agreed to provide pricing and quality data on a single website, so consumers have a powerful tool to shop for health care in one place. To begin, consumers will find price comparison information at the yet-to-be-named website in January 2009, including:

• The top 90 percent of high tech imaging and x-ray procedures (by volume)

• The top 25 lab tests by volume

• The 100 most common procedures

“The heart of the reform is to improve health care productivity and quality by restoring the relationship between doctors and patients,” Governor Pawlenty said. “Minnesota is leading the nation in transforming health care through payment reform, increased transparency, and engaging consumers in their own health care decision-making.”

The Pawlenty Administration’s ongoing efforts to transform the health care marketplace

• Governor Pawlenty signed historic legislation in 2008 that will transform Minnesota’s health care system by improving access to health care price and quality information, becoming the first state in the nation to require all health care providers to use e-prescribing, creating patient-centered “health care homes” to provide comprehensive primary care, and establishing payment reform based on financial incentives to improve quality and reduce cost. The health care reform package is projected to save 12 percent in health care costs.

• Also in 2008, Governor Pawlenty joined leaders from Minnesota’s largest health care organizations to announce the Minnesota Health Information Exchange (MN-HIE) that will connect doctors, hospitals and clinics across health care systems so they can quickly access medical records needed for patient treatment during a medical emergency or for delivering routine care.

• Governor Pawlenty signed legislation in 2007 creating a new uniform billing and coding process to increase system efficiency and lower health care costs. All providers and payers are required to exchange routine administrative transactions electronically in a single standard format by 2009.

• The State of Minnesota is implementing e-prescribing for state employees and their dependents through a new prescription benefits manager. DFER has contracted with Navitus Health Solutions as the sole pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) for the Minnesota Advantage Health Plan for State employees. A single PBM will increase efficiency and save the state about $5 million a year. The savings will go directly back to the health plan to help control rising health care premiums.

• Governor Pawlenty introduced QCare – Quality Care and Rewarding Excellence, a new quality standard that will be used to reward top performing providers while saving money. QCare identifies quality measures, sets aggressive outcome targets for health care providers, makes comparable measures transparent to the public and changes the payment system to reward quality rather than quantity. Governor Pawlenty’s QCare executive order instructs the state agencies responsible for Medicaid and state employee health benefits to add provisions to their contracts with health plans and other vendors to help meet the goals.

• Created RxPrice Compare website that allows Minnesotans to shop and compare price information for prescription drugs across Minnesota and MinnesotaHealthInfo.com, a clearinghouse for healthcare consumer information.

• Minnesota has the nation’s most comprehensive report card for nursing homes to help compare patient satisfaction and quality of care in Minnesota nursing homes.

• Minnesota is the first in the nation to implement pay-for-performance for diabetes management in public programs and the state health plan.

• Minnesota’s Medicaid program, the state employee health benefits program, and nine private sector employers representing one-seventh of all Minnesotans, instituted one of the largest state-based health care pay-for-performance efforts in the nation. Under Bridges to Excellence, health care providers who demonstrate superior outcomes with patients with certain chronic diseases receive special recognition and financial bonuses.

• Minnesota is the first state to require the reporting of certain medical errors in hospitals.

• Created the Minnesota e-Health Advisory Committee and advanced $1.5 million in grants to underserved areas to accelerate the adoption of interoperable medical records making health care safer, more effective and more efficient.

• Created the Governor’s Health Cabinet to bring together the heads of state agencies with responsibilities for health care purchasing, regulation and delivery, including agencies that administer Medicaid and the state employee health benefits plan. The Health Cabinet works together in implementing more efficient health care purchasing and measurement strategies.

• Established the Smart Buy Alliance, a dramatically improved way for employers and groups to buy health care for their employees and members. The state of Minnesota joined with private business and labor groups to drive quality improvements and efficiencies in the health care delivery system. Alliance members have agreed to set uniform performance standards, cost/quality reporting requirements, and technology demands on health plans and providers and to favor providers and health plans that are certified for highest quality.

• Supported and signed into law the new Flexible Benefit Plan to reduce cost by allowing employers to eliminate unnecessary mandates in the insurance plan they offer employees.

• Supported and signed legislation to require hospitals, providers, health plans and pharmacists to disclose price information to the public so consumers can better understand what they are paying for health care.