The federal Office of Personnel Management now requires preferred provider organizations (PPOs) and other fee-for-service plans to collect and report quality performance measures. Beginning in 2007, 8 million federal employees, dependents and retirees will have better comparative information with which to make important health coverage decisions. OPM will require all PPOs and fee-for-service plans covering federal workers to measure and submit data from five clinical quality measures covering breast cancer screening, cholesterol testing and diabetes care.

“As the nation’s largest employer, the federal government has made a very powerful statement that every American needs good, comparable information about health care quality, regardless of the type of health plan they choose,” says Margaret E. O’Kane, National Committee for Quality Assurance president. “When PPOs start reporting HEDIS [Health Plan Employer Data and Information Set] data, for the first time federal workers will be able to determine which plans offer them the greatest value and which keep their families the healthiest.”

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