Managed Care - January 2009 - (Page 11)

COMPENSATION MONITOR Specialists warming to pay for performance A lthough existing quality incentive programs related to physician services are limited to primary care physicians, a new survey describes non-primary care physicians’ views. Karen Murphy, PhD, president of Health Care Future Consulting, and David B. Nash, MD, chairman of the department of health policy at Jefferson Medical College, surveyed cardiologists, hematologists, oncologists, obstetricians, gynecologists, and orthopedic surgeons. Sixty-eight percent favored programs that pay physicians for such improvements as electronic medical records and other infrastructure upgrades. More than 40 percent supported a P4P program that paid according to clinical performance measures and patient satisfaction. “The physicians believed that pay for performance did encourage the practice of evidence-based medicine,” says Murphy. “They indicated they were in favor of infrastructure grants that could be used for electronic medical records, for example.” Specialty societies were the biggest influence on non-primary care physicians. “From the survey, it appears that specialty societies are going to play a huge role in engaging non-primary care physicians in the P4P arena,” says Murphy. An easier way of engaging non-primary care physicians would be for managed care organizations to work with specialty societies, as their influence with this audience is significant, Murphy says. The article is published in the November/December issue of the American Journal of Medical Quality. How specialists see pay-for-performance programs Pay for performance: Is the best way to reimburse doctors in my specialty Provides information to patients and payers on differences in quality Encourages the practice of evidence-based medicine Is not applicable to my specialty Is a means to reduce payment 63% 17% Disagree 41% 33% 28% Not sure 26% 25% 17% 24% 24% 12% 58% Agree 33% 42% 54% Type of incentive I would be in favor of a P4P that: Offers electronic medical records funding Pays on clinical quality Pays on patient satisfaction Publicly discloses my performance 23% 28% 45% 47% 11% 17% 16% 22% 68% 42% 40% 31% Source: Murphy KM, Nash DB. Nonprimary care physicians’ views on office-based quality incentive and improvement programs. Am J Med Qual. 2008;23(6):427–39 JANUARY 2009 / MANAGED CARE 11

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managed Care - January 2009

Managed Care - January 2009 Editor's Memo Contents Legislation & Regulation News and Commentary Medication Management Compensation Monitor Health Care's Disruptive Innovations Q&A With Clayton Christensen 'Disruption' May Be Plans' Best Bet Avoid the PBM Rebate Trap HealthPartners Puts Diabetes on Notice Formulary Files Plan Watch Tomorrow's Medicine Ad Index Outlook Unmet Needs in the Management of Plaque Psoriasis Impact of RSV: Implications for Managed Care

Managed Care - January 2009

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