Interesting article in Governing The States and Localities on how quality measure are transforming everything from billing practices to patient behavior. The article cites Minnesota as an example – a plan is in the works to tie the public reporting of health quality measures to payment reform, with hospital-based physician clinics compared on their relative performance ratings in quality and costs. Reimbursement — and consumer cost-sharing — will be based on which categories physicians are in. A clinic with high performance and low cost will be reimbursed at a higher level — and cost consumers less — than one with lower performance and higher costs. The article also comments on the integration of both quality and expense as being critical – referencing a recent study from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), when consumers only know how much a particular medical intervention costs, they tend to pick the higher-priced one on the false belief that it must be better.
Read more: Performance Measurement Improves the Quality of Health Care