Awards totaling more than $1.2 million will increase health care consumer choice, control, and convenience
Contact: Stephany Fong, fong@nyhealthfoundation.org
Awards totaling more than $1.2 million will increase health care consumer choice, control, and convenience
October 18, 2016 (New York) – The New York Health Foundation (NYHealth) has selected five organizations for grant awards totaling more than $1.2 million to empower health care consumers and ensure they have the tools, resources, and support they need to make informed decisions about their health care.
“Too often in our health care system, patients are an afterthought, when they should be at the center and treated as its most important customer,” said David Sandman, President and CEO of NYHealth. “Consumers need and deserve more choice, control, and convenience to make educated decisions and understand their health care options, especially regarding how much they can expect to pay for their care.”
The selected grantees will undertake a range of projects and studies to increase consumers’ access to their own health information; provide new tools and resources that will inform consumer health care decision-making; and identify strategies that meaningfully engage consumers in determining the types of health care services available in their local communities.
For example, a grant to MergerWatch will support an in-depth review of New York’s Certificate of Need process and identify opportunities for consumer engagement and protection in this era of health care consolidation. NYHealth’s grant to IMPAQ will create a user-friendly consumer tool that estimates out-of-pocket costs—by health plan —for specific high-cost, common conditions so that New Yorkers can make informed decisions when selecting a health plan that best fits their medical needs.
“These grants are a first step to change the current dynamic and amplify the voice of health care consumers in New York State,” said Sharrie McIntosh, Vice President for Programs of NYHealth.
Projects were selected through a competitive request for proposals. The five organizations receiving NYHealth grants are:
- MergerWatch “Empowering NY Consumers in an Era of Hospital Consolidation”
- IMPAQ “Health Insurance Marketplace Transparency Tool: Out-of-Pocket Costs for Specialty Conditions”
- Cynosure Health “Engaging Consumers Through Network Accessibility and Performance”
- National Partnership for Women and Families “GetMyHealthData: Creating Data Exemplars in New York”
- Northeast Business Group on Health “Safe Birth NY: Empowering Women to Use Hospital Quality Data When Deciding Where to Give Birth”
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About the New York Health Foundation
The New York Health Foundation (NYHealth) is a private, statewide foundation dedicated to improving the health of all New Yorkers, especially the most vulnerable. Today, NYHealth concentrates its work in two strategic priority areas: building healthy communities and empowering health care consumers. The Foundation is committed to making grants, informing health policy and practice, spreading effective programs to improve the health care system and the health of New Yorkers, serving as a neutral convener of health leaders across the State, and providing technical assistance to its grantees and partners.
