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Study finds public reporting of quality measures leads to improved performance

Voluntary reporting on quality of care measures helps drive improvement in care for patients and for those groups doing the reporting according to a recent study (abstract only) published in the journal Health Affairs. Researchers from the Medical College of Wisconsin analyzed 14 publicly reported quality of care measures over a five-year period of a voluntary consortium of physician groups. Diabetes treatment recorded the most significant improvement, with three out of six measures showing double digit percentage gains. Cholesterol control and breast-cancer screening also showed improvements. “Our findings show that voluntary reporting of quality measures helps drive improvement for participants, which should lead to better health care for our patients,” said Geoffrey C. Lamb, MD, professor of internal medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin and lead author of the study. “Furthermore, these results suggest that large group practices are willing to engage in quality improvement efforts in response to that public reporting.”

Improving Medicare readmissions

A new article in this week’s New England Journal of Medicine looks at the progress made by the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), a program created by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to reduce readmissions among Medicare patients. CMS recently began financially penalizing hospitals whose readmission rates were deemed “excessive” by the agency when compared to “expected” levels. The authors of the article discuss developments into how the program is playing out and suggest three ways to improve it. Their suggestions for improvement are:

The authors say the program has potential but like any policy, it should be open to change as new evidence emerges.

Hospitals continue to acquire physician practices

A recent article from HealthLeaders Media profiles a survey conducted by Jackson Healthcare, a health care staffing recruiter, which found that 70% of health care executives said physicians are the ones taking the initial step in approaching them, looking to sell their practices. Other findings from the survey include:

Of those hospitals surveyed, family practice and internal medicine were the most cited as those looking to be acquired by them. "A lot of solo practices and solo physicians are looking to sell," says Sheri Sorrell, a market research manager for Jackson Healthcare. "They can’t afford to put in the resources necessary to comply with the ACA (Affordable Care Act) and they’re just looking to get out. Employment seems to be a better option for them at this time."

Welcome the 2.0 doctor

A new breed of physician is taking over New York City. Dubbed 2.0 doctors, they are rethinking the way health care is delivered in the 21st century. A recent New York Times article spotlights one of these physicians, Dr. Jay Parkinson. Dr. Parkinson is the founder of Sherpaa, a 24/7 online virtual doctor’s office where patients can email or text message their symptoms to a clinician standing by. After a few back-and-forth messages, patients may pick up a prescription at a local pharmacy or be referred to a specialist. Since its inception last year, Sherpaa now has two primary care physicians, 500 customers from 30 companies, and a network that includes 100 specialists.

More physicians turning to group appointments

A recent article in the Washington Post, in collaboration with Kaiser Health News, looks at the increased use of group appointments among physicians. Advocates argue these appointments allow physicians to treat more patients, spend more time with them, improve appointment availability, improve outcomes, and as a way to ease the physician shortage. According to the article, group appointments last around two hours and are usually covered by insurance. In 2010, the American Academy of Family Physicians reported 12.7% of family practice physicians conducted group visits. One drawback, according to experts, is that physicians have to learn to be facilitators instead of authoritative leaders, something most are not used to.

Reform coming to how medical students are graded

A recent WellBlog post for the New York Times asks why failing medical students don’t receive failing grades. The post discusses a new study published in the journal Teaching and Learning in Medicine that found a majority of clerkship directors believe grade inflation still occurs and that a third of students passed their course when they should have failed. The authors believe that some new initiatives over the coming years will help address these evaluation issues. They cite a national standards list from the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education that will assess the competencies of residents and become part of all residency training programs across the country. As well, they believe medical schools will adopt a similar system for medical students, eventually creating a national standard for all schools.

More annual Match Day students choose primary care residencies

More medical school seniors are choosing residencies in primary care, according to new results released from the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP). The number of U.S. students choosing primary care – internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics – rose by almost 400 during this year’s annual Match Day. A total of 17,487 graduating seniors participated in the event, the largest to date with more than 40,000 registrants, including 1,000 more seniors from the U.S. “We attribute the rising number of U.S. students to three new medical schools graduating their first classes as well as enrollment expansions in existing medical schools,” said NRMP Executive Director Mona Signer. The total number of positions offered in the Match was 29,171, an increase of 2,399 over last year and an all-time high. “The significant increase in positions was due to a change in NRMP policy that requires Match-participating programs to register and attempt to fill all positions in The Match,” Signer said.

Register now for the last webinar in our physician practice management series

Register now for the final part of our three-part webinar series on physician practice management sponsored by the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Physician Leadership Forum in partnership with MGMA-ACMPE. Join speaker Rosemarie Nelson, MS, Principal Consultant, MGMA Health Care Consulting Group, as she discusses the essentials for physician practice management.
 

 

Learn how better-performing practices achieve better-than-average results. Understand when to deploy which technology tools, including business intelligence applications. Create a culture for productive physicians using non-physician providers (NPPs), benchmarking and quality metrics to achieve patient satisfaction.

 

Learning objectives:

To register, click here.

 

 

Part 1: February 7 – “A Successful Physician-Hospital Integration – A Case Study” (recording and slides now available for download)
 

Part 2: March 5 – “Physician Practice Management Essentials: Keys for Success” (recording and slides now available for download)
 

Part 3: April 10 – “Physician Practice 2.0 – Tools for Success in Hospital-Owned Practices”

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