Business
MGMA weighs in on transparency
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Aug. 7, 2006
The Medical Group Management Assn. has joined other leading organizations to adopt policies spelling out how it believes greater transparency can be achieved in health care.
In two position papers issued June 28, MGMA gave its first formal opinions about how to facilitate the movement toward more transparency.
In one opinion, MGMA said greater pricing transparency could be achieved if health plans are required to release detailed fee schedules and grant physicians and hospitals permission to release that information. In the other, the Englewood, Colo.-based association said that quality improvement programs initiated outside of medical practices should follow several guidelines, including allowing practice leaders to review performance profiles before they are made public.
In May, the American Hospital Assn. adopted policy calling for states to work with their hospital associations to make hospital charge information available. The American Medical Association has several policies encouraging physicians to provide patients with adequate fee information and supporting the idea that more pricing information will lead to better decision-making in health care.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2006/08/07/bibf0807.htm.
