Aetna and NYS AG reach agreement on doctor- ranking program

Following on from the previous report (10/29) that NYS Attorney General reached an agreement with Cigna and its doctor ranking program, FierceHealthcare reports that Aetna has struck a similar deal. Under this deal, Aetna will adopt a model limiting its approach to rating physicians. The new model, which is backed by the AMA and the state’s medical society, requires insurers to share all details on how they rank doctors with both consumers and the physicians themselves. Aetna will adopt the model both in New York state and across the U.S. Prior to striking the agreement, Aetna’s “Aetna Aexcel” program rated physicians on 12 categories touching on clinical quality and cost efficiency. However, previously Aetna had not been in the practice of letting consumers know to what extent cost impacted their ratings.