quality ratings

U.S. healthcare quality isn't what it should be, and probably won't be for at least three to five years. That's the depressing--or arguably, challenging--conclusion emerging from a new study by consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. To conduct its study, PwC surveyed 60 of what it termed the nation's most influential healthcare leaders, who seem to agree that healthcare quality improvement efforts have lost their its momentum, despite high-profile successes efforts like the Institute for …

During 2006, employers, managed care plans, trade groups, state governments and federal agencies took a new and aggressive role in bringing pricing and outcomes data to the public, in many …

The Texas Medical Association is not pleased. Leaders of the 41,000 physician trade group have fired off a broadside sharply criticizing the new physician rating system proposed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas. The 3.3 million member health plan plans to create a Web-based physician ratings offering, scheduled to go live on January 1, which will use dark blue, light blue and gray ribbons to indicate the extent to which a given physician complies with evidence-based practices. The …

In using quality ratings, patients and health purchasers may feel they're getting some assurance that they can predict the outcome of their care. Well, in this case, apparently they can't--at least not yet. According to new research, there seems to be little difference in hospital death rates for three common conditions (heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia) regardless of how the hospitals rank on Medicare hospital performance measures. The study, by the University of Pennsylvania's …

As in many other states, a group of Ohio employers have gotten together and begun issuing quality ratings for the state's hospitals. And as is often the case, the report has drawn much criticism from hospital administrators. This is the third year in a row that the group, the Employers Health Coalition of Ohio, has issued its Consumer Guide to Ohio Hospital Quality. The report, which grades 153 of the state's hospitals on a five-star scale, uses key three quality indicators to …

While Minnesota providers continue to improve their performance on a set of key quality measures, substantial gaps remain between the best and worst performing groups, according to a set of quality ratings just released by a community non-profit group. MN Community Measurement, which is backed by the Minnesota Medical Association and the state's health plans, issues quality ratings on the majority of health systems in the state. Among the positives the non-profit found was that health …

Six Washington doctors and the Washington State Medical Association are suing Regence BlueShield, claiming that the insurer's decision to exclude them from their "select" network due to poor quality is unfounded and damages their reputation. Regence has informed customers that 500 Washington state doctors would no longer be covered by the plan because they provide low quality, inefficient care. The physicians say that the insurer's quality ratings are completely …

It seems that every week we hear about a state or insurer that's taking steps toward increasing transparency. This week's offering comes from Aetna, which announced that it will report the cost of 30 common procedures in the Washington, D.C., Maryland and Virginia area. The information will be available to consumers on Aetna's Web site and quality ratings will also be available for providers of 12 different specialties. Aetna's Web site is a step in the right direction but critics say …

A new study by Thomson Medstat concludes that more hospitals and physicians are adopting the pay-for-performance programs which supporters say reward efficient care. Thomson talked to about 300 healthcare managers on their views on the topic. The vast majority--85 percent--say they either currently have a P4P program in place or think one could be valuable to their business. Historically, however, implementing such programs has involved risks for providers as the issue remains a …

The final day of the World Health Care Congress focused on the Bush administration's plans for reforming the health insurance market. Both Treasury Secretary John Snow and healthcare point man Allan Hubbard pushed the notion of high-deductible plans coupled with HSAs, although Hubbard admitted that there were significant challenges making them work for the chronically ill whom he said accounted for two to five percent of the population. Refreshingly, he invited disagreement from the …