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2004 HealthMart Conference - Session 3 Description
"Crossing the Quality Chasm: How do we get there from here?"
Agenda | Exhibitors | Workshops | Vendor Opportunities
Session Descriptions: Keynote | Session 1 | Session 2 | Session 3 | Session 4 | Session 5
Session 3 Description
"Physician Initiatives"
Assessing Incentive Impact on Quality |
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Physicians often have to pick and choose among the large variety of incentives for patient safety offered by an array of health plans, simply because it is too difficult to focus on all at once.
"When I think of all the different initiatives, it's ludicrous to think we can track and follow all of them," said Karen Boudreau, MD, Medical Director of Valley Medical Group. Her medium-sized group practice tries to establish a common focus. "We will keep an eye on mammograms, pap smears, colon cancer. We may pick diabetes for now, because it's all we can focus on," she said.
Boudreau will join B. Dale Magee, MD, MS, of Central Massachusetts IPA, and Thomas Sullivan, MD, of Women's Health Center Cardiology, the past president of the Massachusetts Medical Society, in a panel discussion of "Physician Initiatives" during the Consortium's 2004 HealthMart Conference, "Crossing the Quality Chasm: How do we get there from here?" on Friday, October 29, at the Westin Copley Place. Barbra G. Rabson, Executive Director of Massachusetts Health Quality Partners (MHQP) will serve as moderator.
MHQP is studying how health plan incentives impact the quality of physicians' performance through a three-year, $1 million Robert Wood Johnson grant, according to Rabson. MHQP has aggregated physician performance on clinical HEDIS measures across five major health plans, focusing on diabetes, asthma, coronary artery disease, women's health and well-child visits.
"We've developed statewide comparative quality performance reports at the medical group level that we've distributed to physician groups. MHQP also will be publicly releasing the comparative quality reports. MHQP's researcher partners are looking at the health plan incentives physician groups receive and will analyze how they impact performance," she said. "We're looking at the big picture and considering which incentives are the most effective."
When Magee came in as medical director of Central Massachusetts IPA, he decided to focus on the electronic medical record and communication among offices.
His office tries to address incentives, such as those associated with the electronic medical record, but "insurance contracts are so complicated," said Dr. Magee. "With a small-to-medium practice, there isn't a lot of management horsepower.
"There's medical knowledge and improvement knowledge, and physicians aren't trained in improvement knowledge at all. . . . We do what we know, and one patient at a time."
Analyzing data also can be a challenge for physicians trained to look at different kinds of data.
"Physicians are great with using data, but in a scientific way," said Dr. Boudreau. "We need to learn to use it to look for trends."
Dr. Magee said physicians would like to reach the point where they can measure specific data of their choice and have the tools available to do so readily.
Dr. Sullivan has long been involved in electronic connectivity in health care. He will discuss e-prescribing and its link to health care quality improvement.
If you would like additional information on sponsorship opportunities for this or other events, please contact Arleen Coletti, Director of Member & Exhibiting Services via e-mail or by phone 781-768-2512.
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