Wawa Helps Create Coalition to Improve Health Benefit Spending

PHILADELPHIA -- Wawa joined with other area employers to form a regional coalition to improve the health benefit spending for its members by improving health care quality and safety, and reducing health care costs.

The new Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health (GPBCH) is now one of more than 50 coalitions on health across the United States. In addition to Wawa, the other founding members cover the business spectrum: AstraZeneca, Comcast, Day & Zimmermann, Pennsylvania Real Estate Trust (PREIT), Public Health Management Corp., Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, and Vanguard.

"Wawa is proud to be a founding member of the GPBCH and excited to partner with other employers in this coalition to make a difference for all in this region," said Todd Lombardi, director of compensation and benefits for Wawa. "We believe that through this coalition, we will be able to simplify the lives of our associates by driving greater transparency around cost and quality of care from the many providers in our operating area."

The coalition's initial plans include:
-- Serving as a regional rollout for the Leapfrog Group on Patient Safety, a national initiative to improve safety of hospital-based care and to make safety information available to the public;
-- Developing a consumer-friendly regional report card on provider quality and safety;
-- Redesigning health benefits to promote and reward healthy behaviors and use of evidence-based services; and
-- Working with the insurer and provider communities to develop and test strategies for improving the care delivery system and aligning provider reimbursement with care quality.