Denying patient requests lowers physician ratings, UC Davis study finds Patients who ask for specialist referrals, laboratory tests or certain medications and don’t get them tend to be less satisfied with their physicians than those whose requests are fulfilled, new research from UC Davis Health shows. The study, “Association of Clinician Denial of Patient Requests with Patient Satisfaction," was published in the January 2018 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine. Based on the results, the study’s authors recommend communications training for physicians that fosters positive experiences for patients without agreeing to all requests for particular diagnostics or treatments. “It is common for ... January 30, 2018 General Physician-Patient Relationship, Quality of Care 0 0 Comment Read More »
CHPI publishes physicians' quality ratings for cycle 2 On March 22, 2017, the California Healthcare Performance Initiative System (CHPI) released its second cycle of physician quality ratings to the public. The ratings can be accessed at CHPI’s newly launched website, CAqualityratings.org, which allows consumers to search ratings on approximately 10,000 California physicians. As previously reported in September 2016, approximately 13,000 physicians in California received their individual quality measurement scores for the second cycle of the CHPI quality rating program. The program rates physicians using claims data from Medicare fee-for-service, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California and UnitedHealthcare. ... April 19, 2017 Managed Care, Medicare Managed Care, Medicare, CHPI, Quality of Care 0 0 Comment Read More »
Physicians encouraged to verify CHPI data by November 11 Earlier this month, approximately 13,000 physicians in California received their individual quality measurement scores for the second cycle of the California Healthcare Performance Initiative System (CHPI) quality rating program. Physicians can review and verify the accuracy of the data used to calculate their scores through the CHPI online portal through November 11, 2016. The program rates physicians using claims data from Medicare fee-for-service, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California and United Healthcare. This claims data includes both commercial and self-funded health plan data from HMO, PPO, POS and Medicare ... September 22, 2016 Managed Care, Medicare Medicare, Quality of Care, United Healthcare, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield, CHPI 0 0 Comment Read More »
United Healthcare to delay Premium Designation assessment until January 2017 United Healthcare (UHC) has announced it will delay the next version of its Premium Designation physician quality and cost assessment program until January 2017. The program uses clinical information from health care claims to evaluate physicians against various quality and cost-efficiency benchmarks. Originally scheduled to publish its latest results in January 2016, UHC has stated it is delaying in order to allow for improvements to the quality measures and cost-efficiency metrics in response to feedback provided by physicians. This means that the currently posted ratings will remain in place through ... December 7, 2015 Managed Care Quality reporting, United Healthcare, Quality of Care 0 0 Comment Read More »
State issues new report cards for HMOs, PPOs, and large medical groups The California Office of the Patient Advocate (OPA) recently released its 15th annual “California Health Care Quality Report Cards,” which rates the state's health plans and medical groups on a four-star scale. Available in English, Spanish and Chinese, the report cards allow consumers to compare the quality of care that more than 16 million commercially insured consumers receive from the state’s 10 largest HMOs, six largest PPOs and more than 200 medical groups. The data for the report cards is drawn from claims data and patient surveys from 2013. Users can ... October 31, 2015 General, Managed Care Quality of Care, Commercial Insurance, HMOs, PPOs 0 0 Comment Read More »
Deadline to verify CHPI quality data accuracy is July 31 In late May, approximately 18,000 physicians in California received a notice and their individual quality measurement scores for a new quality rating program through the California Healthcare Performance Initiative System (CHPI). The program rates physicians using claims data from Medicare fee-for-service, Anthem Blue Cross, Blue Shield of California and United Healthcare. Physicians will be assigned a star rating of one to four stars for each measure, based on where they fall as a percentile within a “peer group," plus a composite score. The individual quality measurement scores were based on ... July 24, 2015 General Quality of Care, Quality Reporting 0 0 Comment Read More »
Dementia communication conference coming to northern and southern California in July The California Partnership to Improve Dementia care is presenting a one-day conference, “I Already Told You...Don't You Remember,” a guide to excellence in dementia communications and behavior prevention without antipsychotic medication, in both northern and southern California in July. The conference will be offered in Sacramento on July 29 and in Lake San Marcos on July 30. The program will demonstrate dementia communication skills known to prevent or reduce the intensity of challenging behaviors, offer tips for coaching these skills in your own organization and share experiences from communities that ... July 20, 2015 General Quality of Care, Seniors and Persons with Disabilities, Aging 0 0 Comment Read More »
Bills to expand nurse practitioners', optometrists' scope of practice stall in Assembly committee A bill that would have allowed nurse practitioners (NP) to practice independently and prescribe drugs without physician oversight is finished, at least for the year. Senate Bill 323 was voted down 8-4 on June 30 in the Assembly Business and Professions (B&P) Committee. The committee agreed to take it up again on July 14, but the bill was pulled from the hearing by its author, Senator Ed Hernandez (D-Azusa). The California Medical Association (CMA) and the California Academy of Family Physicians led the fight against SB 323. Senator Hernandez also pulled ... July 20, 2015 General Scope of Practice, Advocacy, Nurse Practitioners, Optometrists, Quality of Care 0 0 Comment Read More »
Congress allows veterans to seek care outside VA system Congress yesterday sent a $17 billion landmark bill to President Obama that will help U.S. veterans avoid long waits for health care within the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). There was overwhelming support in both the Senate (91-3) and House (unanimous) for the bill, which will provide $10 billion in emergency spending over the next three years to allow veterans to seek care from private doctors and other health professionals due to delays in the VA system. Veterans would have access to private doctors if they could not get ... August 4, 2014 General Hospitals/Health Care Facilities, Quality of Care, Veterans, Federal Legislation 0 0 Comment Read More »
DEA makes tramadol a Schedule IV drug Effective August 18, 2014, tramadol will be classified as a Schedule IV drug, according to a rule recently published by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA). The drug had been a non-controlled substance under federal law for almost 20 years. According to the DEA, the abuse of tramadol products has increased over the last several years, with it being used as a substitute for other opioids such as hydrocodone. Tramadol is a centrally acting synthetic opioid analgesic used in the management of moderate to moderately severe pain in adults. Tramadol ... July 15, 2014 General Drug Prescribing, Prescription Drugs, Drug Dispensing, Quality of Care 0 0 Comment Read More »
