 | Primary Care Performance of Oregon Medical Practices Going Public
Mar 02, 2010
By David Shute, M.D., Medical Director
Partner for Quality Care: Information for a Healthy Oregon
Demands for access to affordable, quality health care by those who provide it, receive it, and pay for it (employers) have fostered performance measurement initiatives across the country. In Oregon, the broadest quality measurement initiative, Partner for Quality Care: Information for a Healthy Oregon, is managed by the not-for-profit organization Oregon Health Care Quality Corporation. The initiative balances the interests of physicians, purchasers/employers, health plans and patients to provide information on quality health care that is useful to physicians and to the public.
Comparative information about clinics and medical groups with four or more adult primary care physicians will be posted in late February on a public website. Performance information on individual physicians will not be published on the public website.
Adult primary care physicians practicing in clinics with four or more practitioners should have received quality measurement reports in the mail on a select group of nationally endorsed quality measures. These measures address asthma medication, diabetes care, depression medication, heart disease and preventive health care for women. Data included in the reports are aggregated from 2008 and 2009 administrative claims from eight of Oregon’s largest health plans: CareOregon, HealthNet of Oregon, Kaiser Permanente, Lifewise Health Plan of Oregon, ODS Health Plan, PacificSource Health Plans, Providence Health Plans, and Regence BlueCross BlueShield. More health plans will be included in future reports.
The Partner for Quality Care initiative offers access to detailed reports that include patient-level data and an opportunity to “look behind the curtain” at how scores were determined. On a secure website developed specifically for practitioners, physicians may validate the accuracy of the measures and find information useful for improving patient care. To find out how to access the secure physician reports, visit: www.PartnerForQualityCareForPractitioners.org. Nearly 40 medical groups, representing nearly 1000 practitioners, have already accessed the reports on the secure website.
Physician outreach, quality improvement, and patient engagement activities
To promote understanding and use of the quality measurement reports, two nurses experienced in practice management and quality improvement are available to work with physician practices to help them access, interpret and use the quality measurement reports, free of charge.
In addition to working with physicians and health plans, the initiative also works closely with consumer experts and consumer groups to educate patients about how they can be more involved in and responsible for their own health care. A consumer friendly website launched in June 2009 that provides tips and information to help patients understand the responsibility they shoulder in getting quality health care.
Input welcome
The initiative welcomes feedback from physicians and clinic staff.
Email: info@partnerforqualitycareforpractitioners.org
Phone: 503-241-3571
Website for practitioners: www.PartnerForQualityCareForPractitioners.org
Website for the public: www.PartnerForQualityCare.org.
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