AAPPO Kicks Off Women’s Health Initiative

The American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations (AAPPO) today launched a new effort to help PPOs communicate with women about surgical options. Washington, D.C., February 1, 2010 – In recent years “minimally invasive” options have become available for selected procedures, offering less pain, shorter hospital procedures, and often lower costs. “With more than 193 million Americans enrolled in a PPO – which is 69 percent of all insured Americans – AAPPO has a great opportunity to use this new effort to spread the word to PPOs on ways to educate women about minimally invasive options and to encourage women to ask for procedures that cause less pain and scarring, and that also have a faster recovery time,” said Loraine Hardin, vice president and chief operating officer of the Principal Financial Group’s Health Division and a member of the AAPPO Board of Directors. Ms. Hardin is chairing the AAPPO initiative. “This program will also help inform the large roster of high quality surgeons in PPO networks about patients’ demand for minimally invasive procedures (MIP).” Through this initiative, “Improving Women’s Health,” AAPPO will educate PPOs on the importance of ensuring that specialists trained in MIP are part of the PPO network. The initiative will also identify best practices used by plans and hospitals to educate women about the advantages of a less invasive procedure. According to the Cleveland Clinic, the advantages of minimally invasive breast biopsy (one of several minimally invasive procedures now available to women) include: * Minimal scarring instead of a large incision * Reduced post-procedural pain * Minimal bleeding * Potentially lower hospital costs * Immediate return to work * Shorter recovery time and immediate resumption of daily activities * Less wait time to have procedure performed “At a time when policy makers and consumers are looking for ways to improve efficiency in health care, MIP reduces recovery time and gets patients back to their productive lives. Increasing awareness of minimally invasive procedures makes sense,” said Karen Greenrose, president and CEO of AAPPO. “Women’s health is an important segment of the industry. A breast biopsy is frightening for most women. Finding a way to do it with less pain and scarring helps make the procedure a little bit better. AAPPO wants to make sure consumers, providers and PPOs are aware of the many benefits MIP can offer to patients and, in the long run, to the cost of health care in this country.” This initiative is funded through an unrestricted grant from Ethicon Endo-Surgery, a Johnson and Johnson company that develops and markets advanced medical devices for minimally invasive and open surgical procedures for the interventional diagnosis and treatment of conditions in general and bariatric surgery, as well as gastrointestinal health, gynecology and surgical oncology. For more information on this program and for updates, please visit www.aappo.org. About the American Association of Preferred Provider Organizations (AAPPO) Founded in 1983, AAPPO (www.aappo.org) is the leading national association of preferred provider organizations (PPOs). PPOs put control for medical decisions in the hands of the physician and patient, resulting in easy access to the right care, provided by the right doctor, at the right time. AAPPO creates a forum for discussion and dissemination of PPO best practices. News Source : AAPPO Kicks Off Women’s Health Initiative