As previously blogged, starting in April, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee were to make physician quality and cost data available online, incorporating practices such as disclosing how doctors are ranked and providing them a way to appeal incorrect ratings, in line with a model that New York’s Attorney General Andrew Cuomo created last year.
Fierce HealthCare reports that dogged by complaints that its data was inaccurate, BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has put its planned doctor rating program on hold. During a 60-day review period BCBS gave doctors, the physicians came back with many complaints about inaccuracies.
For example, the data sometimes suggested that they didn’t perform certain tests, even though the doctors had such tests documented in their own records. In such cases, the health plan has been allowing doctors to submit their records to supplement the claims data it uses for ratings. After it responds to doctors’ questions and concerns, BCBS of Tennessee still expects to publish physician quality and cost data, which will be available to privately-insured members through a secure web connection.
