Business
Group plans efficiency measure
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 9, 2004
The Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality, a collection of physician groups, hospitals, health plans and businesses across Wisconsin, has announced plans to expand its measuring and reporting process to include economic efficiency and value comparisons.
The group, which formed last year and released quality and cost data to consumers, is planning to incorporate more information into a more comprehensive measurement unit. While collecting price figures and quality data for some procedures, the group also hopes to devise a formula that will produce a useable value quotient for patients, one they can use to compare performance among different groups and hospitals.
"Our 2003 report compared organizations from a charge perspective on certain DRGs," said John Toussaint, MD, chair of the collaborative and president and CEO of ThedaCare, a health system based in Appleton, Wis. "That's not the best way to compare who's doing the most efficient work."
Dr. Toussaint declined to give a timetable for publishing the data because the groups involved still are working to determine the best formula to measure economic efficiency.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2004/08/09/bibf0809.htm.
