Northeast Ohio group Better Health Greater Cleveland has appointed six new members to its board of directors.Better Health is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the health of people who have chronic medical conditions, such as diabetes. The group focuses on health IT, quality improvement and payment reform. It’s part of the national [...]

Healthcare providers who participate in Better Health Greater Cleveland continued to improve the quality of care they provide patients with common chronic conditions last year — thanks, in part, to electronic medical records.Later this year, doctors’ offices and hospitals will begin receiving more than $20 billion in federal and state stimulus money when they [...]

Insurer UnitedHealthcare is trying to encourage people with diabetes to take better care — and to save themselves, and eventually their employers and the insurer, a lot of money. The Diabetes Health Plan gives patients financial rewards for taking routine preventive-care steps, such as having regular blood sugar checks, routine exams and preventive screenings.

How do you make health care affordable? Remove some of the inefficiencies of delivering and coordinating medical care, which drive up its cost and drive down its quality, Harvard University economics professor David Cutler told an audience of health care providers, administrators and advocates Thursday.

Many people in Northeast Ohio who lose their jobs in the ongoing economic recession also lose their health insurance, according to a Better Health Greater Cleveland report. But a government-sponsored health care plan and a requirement to have health insurance — both part of the nation’s ongoing health care reform debate — might help stabilize the situation.