Alexandria, Va. — Feb. 9
The Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) is making available to all its members "The Purchaser Guide to Value-Driven Health Care," a guide to help employers make informed decisions about health care services for employees. 

As the world’s largest organization dedicated to serving the human resource community, SHRM will disseminate the guide to its more than 217,000 members, representing every industry.

"Health care is the No. 1 issue that HR professionals deal with every day," said Susan Meisinger, SHRM president and CEO. "The valuable information in this guide will allow our members to make better decisions when purchasing health care."

The guide is being released by the Partnership for Value-Driven Health Care, of which SHRM is a member. It is designed to help organizations meet the call by U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for employers to adopt value-driven health care practices in the workplace.

SHRM supports the objectives outlined by HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt to make use of interoperable health information technology, measure and publish information about quality and prices and create positive incentives for efficient, quality health care.

"HR professionals are on the front-lines of every employer-provided health care issue, Meisinger said. "It’s critical that we have cost and quality information to promote better-informed health care decisions in America’s workplaces."

The guide includes strategies to help employers and employees be savvy health care purchasers and users.