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Physicians are ripe for education on the benefits of current quality-of-care programs, including the use of patient satisfaction surveys to assess performance and quality.
That is the key finding of the 2008 TMA Quality of Care Survey conducted in August. The survey also found that the vast majority of physicians do not see that federal or commercial initiatives to measure quality lead to improvements in their patient care, and prevention of "never events" and medication errors have the highest physician participation.
TMA conducted the electronic survey of physicians to analyze their participation in a variety of processes and programs that attempt to assess clinical performance and quality of care. Furthering TMA's efforts to improve physician accountability on clinical performance is a key component of this research and a priority for TMA President Josie Williams, MD.
Dr. Williams said the survey results indicate that it is time for physicians "to think about how you are going to implement electronic health records, when are you going to implement them, and how they will help you improve care. This also will give you the information you need to compare your data with what you're going to be getting from hospitals, from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and from insurance companies so you can either disagree, prove wrong, or agree."
Among the survey's key findings:
Participation Among Practicing Physicians
- Half of physicians do not conduct patient satisfaction surveys in their offices.
- Thirty percent participate in the CMS Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI).
- Fewer than 10 percent participate in the Bridges to Excellence (4 percent) or National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Physician Recognition program (9 percent).
- Just one-fourth of physicians have used a practice improvement/performance practice module as part of their maintenance-of-certification requirement for certification renewal.
Improving Patient Care
Of physicians who are participating in quality improvement programs, the following percentages reflect physician opinion about their improvements in patient care:
- Educational efforts tied to maintenance of certification for board renewal, 54 percent;
- PQRI, 45 percent;
- Some form of pay for performance, 38 percent;
- The NCQA Physician Recognition program, 62 percent; and
- Bridges to Excellence, 22 percent.
Participation in Other Performance/Process Improvement Programs
- Sixty-eight percent participate in programs to prevent medication errors.
- Fifty-seven percent participate in programs to prevent "never events."
- Fifty-three percent participate in programs that address "disruptive" physicians.
Action, Oct. 16, 2008
Last Published: 10/15/2008 Print this page
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