Government
Insurers move forward with pay-for-performance
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted May 11, 2009
As the nation faces the crushing burden of health care costs, health insurance plans are teaming with physicians and hospitals through innovative pay-for-performance models in an attempt to improve quality and enhance patient satisfaction, according to America's Health Insurance Plans.
AHIP announced April 28 the release of a new publication, "Innovations in Recognizing and Rewarding Quality," that it says demonstrates how health plan payment models are improving outcomes and lowering costs. Some programs reward physicians for making structural changes, such as adopting electronic health record systems. Others involve rewarding doctors for more actively monitoring and coordinating care for patients with chronic illnesses.
The report contains views of physicians who observe that pay-for-performance has the potential to increase the use of best practices and promote access to appropriate and timely care, AHIP said. According to the insurance association, health plans typically use nationally recognized performance measures to evaluate physicians, including the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set, which was developed by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.
The full publication is available online (link).
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/05/11/gvbf0511.htm.
