BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, the biggest insurer in the state, was all set to publish data on the performance of the state’s doctors. But the insurer gave the doctors a chance to review the data first — and the docs caught enough mistakes to make the company hold off, the Nashville Tennessean reports. continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on P4P ...
A new study examines whether patients seeing physicians participating in a “pay-for-performance” incentive program receive better care than those who saw non-participating physicians. The health plan that was examined reimburses physicians based on the quality of care they provide.
This study finds a strong correlation between quality of patient care and physician participation in a quality-based incentive program. continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on P4P ...
The St. Paul Pioneer Press has an editorial that spells out the pros and cons of pay for performance systems as they see it.
The author of the editorial, Craig Westover, spoke with St. Paul, university professor, practicing family physician and bioethicist Dr. David Satin, who is giving a talk Nov. 16 titled “Ethical Issues in Pay for Performance.” Satin suggest an alternative model, one which pays doctors with grants, to those currently being proposed and implemented. continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on P4P ...
No love for P4P.
PricewaterhouseCoopers just released a report on Pay for Performance programs among the nation’s largest commercial health insurers which found a lack of agreement about the definition of quality or cooperation on standards, resulting in a ballooning number of diverse measures, and insufficient financial incentives to change physician behavior. continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on P4P ...
The Washington Post has an article profiling a number of doctors who were the victims of data errors and other problems with P4P systems.
One doctor fighting ratings systems is Seattle internist Michael Schiesser… When Regence cut him from its network and patients had to pay out-of-pocket to see him or go elsewhere, he pressed to see his report. He said he discovered that he had been penalized because of errors in data-gathering.
The story is a good overview of how the bugs have yet to be worked out of various P4P systems and how this is hurting doctors and patients.
Doctors Rated but Can’t Get a Second Opinion [Via Washington Post]
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on P4P ...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced today that all participating physician groups improved the clinical management of diabetes patients in the first year of the three-year Medicare Physician Group Practice (PGP) Demonstration. Only two, however, the University of Michigan Faculty Practice and the Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin, reached the levels needed to trigger bonus payments.
A New York Times report on this announcements poses the question of how these results, which reward larger organizations, can be translated to P4P programs for individual doctors in small practices.
Shift in Health-Cost Focus Is Said to Show Promise [via The New York Times]
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on P4P ...
Pay-for-performance programs don’t seem to have a significant impact on the quality of care given to heart attack patients or on their mortality rates, says a study published in the June 6 issue of JAMA.
Researchers analyzed data for patients with a particular form of myocardial infarction (acute non-ST-segment elevation) between July 2003 and June 2006 at 54 hospitals participating in the Medicare P4P pilot project and 446 nonparticipating hospitals. The use of “process-of-care measures,” such as prescribing beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors, as well as in-hospital mortality rates, improved at both sets of hospitals, with no significant difference between the two sets. A couple of measurements were slightly higher at the P4P hospitals.
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on P4P ...
A new study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal says that doctors under a performance pay system give more help to smokers to quit. continues…
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From Medical Economics magazine, more on P4P ...
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