If continuous quality improvement (CQI) theory holds that most things/processes can be improved, then CQI may be needed more in US health care – where it’s widely acknowledged that we have 25-50% waste - than in any other industry. And what’s the first and foremost prerequisite for improvement? We would hold that it is this: a willingness to look at objective data on one’s performance in the context of best industry practices. That kind of willingness represents true leadership.

Such willingness to not only be measured but to also transparently share the results – blemishes and all – is why we want to give a loud shout out to three health plans who recently agreed to participate in, and share their results from, the CBGH-sponsored “eValue8” survey: Aetna, Cigna, and Kaiser Permanente.

We’ll state the obvious: eValue8 is not for the faint of heart. It requires many, many hours of work to complete this in-depth assessment tool. But much more than work, it requires the courage to be compared and the commitment to improve at the highest organizational level. And while we both appreciate and applaud the local leadership of both Aetna and Kaiser for their willingness to first complete the survey and then mutually look at their results with both clients and non-clients, it’s Cigna to whom we’d like to offer our greatest respect – although not specifically because of their survey results.

To be clear, Cigna did well overall and better than other plans in several categories. But that’s not the only reason for our high regard. Rather, we would acknowledge them because of their participation in a number of regional markets and then, particularly, because they use eValue8 to compare their performance region by region – as well as against national standards. Such commitment to CQI is exceptional and demonstrates and exceptional client commitment.

Lots of folks can talk the talk. Cigna’s showing it walks it as well.