LOS ANGELES--(BW HealthWire)--Nov. 9, 2000--A survey conducted by Health Benchmarks among 600 American Specialty Health Plans (ASHP) patients found that almost all respondents intended to visit an acupuncturist within the next year, compared to only two-thirds of survey respondents last year.

Over the last year, Health Benchmarks surveyed more than 600 patients belonging to ASHP stand-alone employer groups. In each quarter, the percentage of patients saying they would likely visit an acupuncturist in the next 12 months increased over the previous quarter. That percentage reached 99 percent in the July 2000 survey.

Health Benchmarks is a leading provider of health services and quality information. ASHP is the nation's largest complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) health plan.

There is a growing public demand for complementary and alternative therapies such as acupuncture,'' said R. Douglas Metz, D.C., Senior Vice President of Health Services for American Specialty Health Plans. ``These surveys confirm a national trend that more people consider such therapies to be safe and effective.''

In addition to measuring intention to utilize acupuncture services, the 20-item Health Benchmarks questionnaire measured four components of access to acupuncture services:

Acupuncturist availability
　　Convenience
　　Wait time
　　Overall satisfaction
　　ASHP rated over 92 percent satisfaction in each of the four categories.

Evidence-based programs offered by Health Benchmarks can help health care organizations determine how well they are performing in those areas that are important to their members,'' said Carolyn Kashian, Director of Business Development for Health Benchmarks. This is of growing importance as the percentage of individuals requesting CAM therapy for treatment of health problems increases.''

In addition to quality assessment, Health Benchmarks is involved in other quality improvement initiatives. Among these initiatives is linking financial incentive programs to quality performance ratings. Such ratings are based on patient satisfaction, access to care, chronic disease management, acute care, and preventive care indicators.

Health Benchmarks also is developing Internet applications to streamline and accelerate the process of gathering patient information and other health informatics data. These interactive tools and health-related Internet applications will be accessible through its Web site at www.healthbenchmarks.com.

Health Benchmarks offers other Web-enabled services to health care organizations and pharmaceutical companies, including:

Disease management programs
　　Performance-based contract administration
　　Clinical trials online data collection
　　Clinical trials patient and investigator recruitment
　　Online health risk appraisals
　　Online physician and patient satisfaction surveys
　　Pharmacoeconomic and outcome studies
　　Hospital and physician report cards
　　With headquarters in Los Angeles, Health Benchmarks provides quality and measurement reporting products and services to health care organizations throughout the country. Its clients include the subsidiary health plans of Health Net Inc., formerly known as Foundation Health Systems Inc. (NYSE:HNT - news), among the nation's largest publicly traded managed health care companies, as well as other health plans and several Fortune 500 pharmaceutical companies.

Health Net Inc.'s mission is to enhance quality of life for its customers by offering products distinguished by their quality, service and affordability. The company's HMO, insured PPO and government contracts subsidiaries provide health benefits to approximately 5.3 million individuals in 16 states through group, individual, Medicare risk, Medicaid and TRICARE programs.

Health Net's subsidiaries also offer managed health care products related to behavioral health, dental, vision and prescription drugs, and offer managed health care product coordination for multi-region employers and administrative services for medical groups and self-funded benefits programs.

American Specialty Health Plans is the nation's first and largest chiropractic/acupuncture health plan, contracting with nine of California's 10 largest health plans and covering more than 3.7 million members in California. An affiliate, American Specialty Health Networks, provides complementary health care programs and networks to health plans and employers nationwide, including acupuncture, chiropractic, massage therapy, naturopathy and dietetics. Together, the two companies contract with more than 70 health plans nationwide and insure more than 40 million members.

(From Yahoo)