The Idiots Start To Awaken But Do Nothing

dwsr

I found this article called Doctors doubt quality metrics improve quality of care in a journal called Family Practice News.  The title immediately makes me cringe because I have been screaming about this crap coming for at least ten years.  Let me pick apart this article for you so you can understand how docs just don’t get it:

  • Quality measures may be essential to creating health care systems focused on value over volume, but physicians aren’t convinced that current quality metrics are improving outcomes. (Who said they are essential?  No one.)
  • In addition, “physicians’ views tilt negative on the effect ACOs [accountable care organizations] have had on the quality of care, and many are still not sure of their effect,” according to a report by the Commonwealth Fund and the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Of course they tilt negative.  ACOs are bogus and so it the quality trend.).
  • Overall, clinicians “were more negative about the use of quality metrics to assess their performance, even those providers who receive incentive payments based on quality,” according to the report. In addition, recent health care trends are causing nearly half of physicians (47%) to consider early retirement. (Half of docs want to quit yet somehow this new model continues?)
  • Half of all surveyed physicians responded negatively when asked if they thought “the increased use of quality metrics to assess provider performance is having a positive, negative, or no impact on primary care providers’ ability to provide quality care to their patients.” (The number is staggering but I have to say, who is in the other half?  They deserve what they get and rest assured, they will get it).
  • “I am not surprised by these data,” said Dr. William Golden, professor of medicine and public health at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock.“The implementation of quality measurements and performance incentives has often been awkward and ineffective,” added Dr. Golden, who also serves as medical director for Arkansas Medicaid. “Too many incentives use burdensome, unreliable metrics with clumsy rewards. The current situation reflects poor program design and not the failure of quality measurement as a concept.” (Burdensome Unreliable metrics with clumsy rewards. Poor program design.  That about sums it up.  But “not the failure of quality measurements as a concept”?  Looks like Dr. Golden is the king of the idiots!)

So this trend will continue because people like Dr. Golden believe in it even though once again, it is unproven.  Unproven!!!  How much money, how much time, how much anger and how many more doctors need to retire before we ditch this quality crap and move on to a better plan?