Quality: Passing the driver’s exam
Much of the confusion in health policy today stems from the seemingly countless quality incentive programs that exist at both the federal and state levels. From Meaningful Use and PCMH, to PQRS and HEDIS, it is easy to become overwhelmed by the myriad ways our care is being evaluated and monitored. Enhancements in EHR software are focusing in on quality, with the goal of streamlining and automating the process of reporting. Bringing all of those measures together, highlighting overlap, and simplifying data collection are just the first steps. Many new tools also offer suggestions for improvement and cost-benefit analyses to help providers determine which programs make financial sense, and which will end up being more trouble than they are worth.
Follow the map or take the road less traveled?
We want to again acknowledge the controversy in all of these concepts. Issues like patient empowerment and quality assessment seem in many ways to fly in the face of medicine’s tradition of physician autonomy and respect. Certainly there are those who will continue to resist complying with the above trends, and for many – especially those close to retirement – that might make good sense. But for the rest of us who are fearful that health care is becoming a commodity, we have to at least acknowledge that patients are consumers and are increasingly able to make informed decisions about how and where they purchase care. If for no other reason, that should force us to consider getting rid of our "maps" and investing in a new "GPS"; with how fast things are moving, soon there may not be time to stop and ask for directions when we get lost!
Dr. Notte practices family medicine and health care informatics at Abington (Pa.) Memorial Hospital. Dr. Skolnik is associate director of the family medicine residency program at Abington Memorial and professor of family and community medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia. He is editor-in-chief of Redi-Reference, a company that creates mobile apps. They are partners in EHR Practice Consultants. Contact them at info@ehrpc.com.