5 trends that will impact how quality of care is measured

New health technologies have allowed physicians to collect ever-increasing amounts of data to help measure—and ultimately, improve—patient care. As more of this data continues to impact how practices are evaluated and paid, here are five key trends one expert recommends that every physician follow. Quality measurements have proven to bolster patient care, with plenty of evidence of improvements in such critical areas as hospital readmissions, early elective delivery and central line infections, Richard Bankowitz, MD (pictured right), told physicians at an education session during the 2015 AMA Interim Meeting. Dr. Bankowitz is chief medical officer for Premier Inc., which collects and measures data to improve efficiencies for physicians and health care facilities. Despite these improvements, physicians still grapple with challenges when they are forced to report quality measures that don’t necessarily align with their practice setting, specialty or payment model, Dr. Bankowitz said. When faced with copious patient data and federal regulations on reporting quality metrics, Dr. Bankowitz said physicians must ask themselves: “Are we measuring what even matters, and what are we looking to find using these quality measures?" To successfully address this question, he suggested that physicians note these five key trends when it comes to quality measurement: 1.     Transparency. Successful quality measurement will embody a level of transparency that allows patien...
Source: AMA Wire - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Source Type: news