Group Health Cooperative#Group Health Research Institute
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{{Infobox company
| name = Group Health Cooperative
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| industry = Healthcare
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| founded = {{start date and age|1945|12|22|br=y|paren=y}}
| founders = Thomas G. Bevan, Ella Willams, Addison Shoudy, R.M Mitchell, and Stanley Erickson
| defunct = {{end date and age|2017|02|01|br=y|paren=y}}
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Group Health Cooperative, formerly known as Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, later more commonly known as Group Health, was an American nonprofit healthcare organization based in Seattle, Washington.{{cite journal |author=Larson EB |title=Group Health Cooperative — One Coverage-and-Delivery Model for Accountable Care |journal=N Engl J Med |date=October 22, 2009 |volume=361 |issue=17 |pages=1620–2 |pmid=19846846 |doi=10.1056/NEJMp0909021 }} It was acquired by Kaiser Permanente in 2017 and now serves as the Kaiser Washington region. The new region would serve the majority of Washington state except for the Southwest Washington counties of Clark and Cowlitz, which would continue to be served by the Portland-area Kaiser Permanente Northwest.{{Cite web |title=Kaiser Washington State county map |url=https://producer.ghc.org/static/pdf/public/health-plans/large-map.pdf}}
Business model
Established in {{start date and age|1945|paren=y}}, Group Health provided coverage and care for about 600,000{{cite web | title=Group Health Cooperative - About Us | website=ghc.org | url=https://www.ghc.org/html/public/about | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825235144/https://www.ghc.org/html/public/about | archive-date=August 25, 2016 | url-status=unfit }} people in Washington and Idaho.
Corporate structure
Despite being marketed as a cooperative for much of the organization's history, Group Health never legally presented itself as a cooperative. It was a nonprofit organization with members. Members were always able to amend bylaws and elect a board of trustees, but never owned organization assets or directly controlled operations.{{cite book |title=Group Health Timeline |last=Crowley |first=Walt |author2=HistoryLink |author2-link=HistoryLink |year=2007 |publisher=HistoryLink |location=Seattle |isbn=978-0-9788302-1-2 }}{{rp|14}}
Group Health Community Foundation (GHCF) was funded with the acquisition of Group Health by Kaiser Permanente in 2017 with approximately $1.8 billion in assets.{{cite news| url=https://www.ghc.org/static/pdf/public/governance/acquisition-summary.pdf | work=Group Health is now Kaiser Permanente | title=Governance and Participation Group Health and Kaiser Permanente | date=January 13, 2017}} Founded in 1983, the new GHCF is entirely independent of Kaiser Permanente. GHCF may continue to invest in efforts to improve health and health care through immunizations, innovation, and patient care.{{cite news| url=https://grouphealthfoundation.org/introducing-ghcf/ | work=Group Health Community Foundation | title=Introducing Group Health Community Foundation | date=2017}}
History
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Group Health was officially registered as a corporation in Washington on December 22, 1945.{{cite book |title=To Serve the Greatest Number |last=Crowley |first=Walt |year=1996 |publisher=University of Washington Press |location=Seattle |isbn=0-295-97587-3 |url=https://archive.org/details/toservegreatestn00crow |url-access=registration }} Group Health's founders included Thomas G. Bevan, then president of lodge 751 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers at Boeing; Ella Willams, a leader in a local chapter of The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry; Addison Shoudy, R.M Mitchell, and Stanley Erickson, who were pioneers in the American cooperative movement; and other community members who had no strong past affiliation with any particular social group.{{rp|14}}
Originally named Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound, the "of Puget Sound" was dropped in 1995.{{cite web |title=Kaiser Permanente and Group Health Cooperative: Working together since 1950 |url=https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/who-we-are/our-history/kaiser-permanente-and-group-health-cooperative-working-together- |publisher=Kaiser Permanente |access-date=September 5, 2023 |date=March 22, 2017}}
The Seattle Times noted in 2012 that non-profit insurance companies, including Premera Blue Cross, Regence BlueShield, and Group Health, were stockpiling billions of dollars in reserves while increasing their rates at the same time.{{cite news| url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017460805_surplus09m.html | work=The Seattle Times | first=Carol M. | last=Ostrom | title=3 Big Health Insurers Stockpile $2.4 Billion As Rates Keep Rising | date=February 8, 2012}}
On December 4, 2015, it was announced that Group Health would be acquired by Kaiser Permanente.{{cite news| url=http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20151204/NEWS03/151209885/kaiser-permanente-to-acquire-group-health-cooperative | work=Modern Healthcare | first=Melanie | last=Evans | title=Kaiser Permanente to acquire Group Health Cooperative | date=December 4, 2015}} In January 2017 Washington State regulators endorsed the acquisition of Group Health by Kaiser Permanente. The acquisition resulted in a newly formed not-for-profit 501(c)(4) under the name Group Health Community Foundation (GHCF).{{cite news| url=http://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/state-regulators-endorse-kaiser-acquisition-of-group-health/ | work=Seattle Times | title=State regulators endorse Kaiser acquisition of Group Health | date=January 3, 2017}}
Group Health Research Institute
Group Health's research leg was the Group Health Research Institute (GHRI), formerly known as Group Health Center for Health Studies. Now known as Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI), it works with institutions such as the University of Washington and the National Institutes of Health. It is a member of the Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN), formerly known as the HMO Research Network.{{Cite journal |last1=Vogt |first1=Thomas M. |last2=Lafata |first2=Jennifer Elston |last3=Tolsma |first3=Dennis D. |last4=Greene |first4=Sarah M. |date=2004 |title=The Role of Research in Integrated Health Care Systems: The HMO Research Network |journal=The Permanente Journal |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=10–17 |doi=10.7812/TPP/04.906 |issn=1552-5767 |pmc=4690686 |pmid=26705313}}
Group Health Cooperative Medical Library
Group Health Cooperative Medical Library was founded in 1969. As of 2011 it subscribed to 8,000 electronic journals and had 400 books. It specializes in allied health professions, medicine, health maintenance organizations, health administration, nursing, and pharmacy.{{cite book |title=American Library Directory |edition=64th |volume=2 |year=2011–2012 |publisher=Information Today, Inc |isbn=978-1-57387-411-3 |pages=2568–2576}}
Notable staff
Scott Armstrong became president and CEO of Group Health in 2003. He is a commissioner of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, board chair of the Alliance of Community Health Plans, a board member of America's Health Insurance Plans and the Pacific Science Center, a member of the Community Development Roundtable in Seattle, and a fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives. He was named among the top 40 of the "100 Most Powerful People in Healthcare" in 2010 by Modern Healthcare magazine.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}}
See also
References
{{Reflist|1}}
Bibliography
- Walt Crowley, To Serve the Greatest Number, University of Washington Press, 1996. The most thorough history published.
- Walt Crowley and HistoryLink, Group Health Timeline, HistoryLink, 2007. An update and summary of To Serve the Greatest Number.
- {{Cite book | last1 = Saunders | first1 = K. W. | last2 = Davis | first2 = R. L. | last3 = Stergachis | first3 = A. | doi = 10.1002/0470842555.ch15 | chapter = Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound | title = Pharmacoepidemiology | pages = 247 | year = 2000 | isbn = 0471899259 }}
- {{cite journal |last1=Kuttner |first1=Robert |year=1998 |title=Must Good HMOs Go Bad? — The Commercialization of Prepaid Group Health Care |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |volume=338 |issue=May 21 |pages=1558–1563 |doi= 10.1056/NEJM199805213382123| pmid=9599120 }}
- {{cite journal |last1=Thompson |first1=Robert S.|year=1996 |title=What have HMOs learned about clinical prevention services? An examination of the experience at Group Health Cooperative of Puget Sound |journal=The Milbank Quarterly |volume=74 |issue=4 |pages=469– |doi=10.2307/3350390|jstor=3350390|pmid=8941259}}
External links
{{commons category|Group Health}}
- {{official website|http://www.ghc.org}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:Defunct companies based in Seattle
Category:Cooperatives based in Washington
Category:Medical and health organizations based in Washington (state)
Category:Healthcare in Washington (state)