NEWS RELEASE

Health Care Payers Coalition of New Jersey 

to Establish a New Jersey Exclusive Provider Organization

Edison, NJ, August 1, 2003  … In its continuing efforts to contain the upward spiral of hospital costs, Health Care Payers Coalition of New Jersey (HCPC), a not-for-profit consumer advocacy group, has announced its intention to form an Exclusive Provider Organization (EPO). 

The HCPC EPO is projected to become a statewide network that will include one hospital in each of New Jersey’s 21 counties.  These hospitals will serve individuals and families on the HCPC membership roster, which total more than 175,000 lives throughout the state. 

“As an alliance of business and labor, we must respond to our members’ continued requests to reduce, or at the very least, stabilize hospital costs,” said HCPC Executive Director Edward Geisler.  “While our network is extensive and the contracts we have negotiated are good, HCPC needs to do more.”

In New Jersey, the EPO model is designed to trim hospital costs by encouraging participating hospitals to offer HCPC the lowest per-diem contract in their respective counties.  According to Geisler, these new HCPC hospital contracts will be similar to those already in place, “with added emphasis on outpatient services and inclusion of all hospital-based physicians.

 “We strongly believe that by developing this cooperative effort with New Jersey hospitals, we will create an environment in which both our membership and the hospitals in our network benefit,” Geisler continued.  “With more than 84 hospitals in New Jersey, quality care is available throughout the state.  The hospitals that join the Health Care Payers Coalition EPO will have the opportunity to offer quality care at reasonable cost to tens of thousands New Jerseyans. It’s a win-win for our membership and the participating hospitals.”

HCPC will develop a formal request for proposal, based on responses to an initial inquiry recently distributed to 84 hospitals in New Jersey.  Executive Director Geisler has made it clear that while cost is critical and “therefore a major portion of our decision, it is not our desire to forego quality for cost savings.”  As a founder and sponsor of the New Jersey Quality Institute, an organization dedicated to improving the quality of care delivered in New Jersey, HCPC will coordinate with NJQI to establish the quality of care requirements for its formal request for proposal.

The Health Care Payers Coalition of New Jersey is a health care purchasing cooperative for self-insured health plans that cover more than 175,000 New Jerseyans.  Founded in 1992, HCPC promotes health care quality and emphasizes the empowerment of health care consumers by providing them with important information and education. 

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