Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/674245
59 CARE DELIVERY Reporting Quality Measures is Costly, Not Useful for Physician Practices, Survey Finds By Heather Punke R eporting on quality metrics is a time-consuming task for physi- cians and their staff. U.S. physi- cian practices in four common spe- cialties spend, on average, 785 hours per physician each year on reporting quality measures. Overall, that time costs practices an estimated $15.4 billion each year, according to a survey in Health Affairs. Researchers surveyed 395 orthopedic, primary care, cardiology and multispe- cialty physician practices that are mem- bers of the Medical Group Management Association. Survey questions asked for details of time spent on activities related to reporting and inspecting quality data, as well as practice leaders' perception on how useful those measures are. One troubling finding is the most time — 12.5 hours of physician and staff time per physician per week — was spent on entering information into the medical re- cord for the sole purpose of reporting for quality measures from external entities. Additionally, 81 percent of practices re- ported their effort in reporting on qual- ity measures is increasing compared to three years ago, and 46 percent called it a significant burden to deal with sim- ilar, but different, quality measures. For instance, the study authors noted the Medicare Shared Savings Program metric for poor diabetes control is a hemoglobin A1c at or below 8 percent, while the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set puts the level at or below 9 percent. Even though physician practices are put- ting a lot of time and effort into reporting on quality metrics, most of them aren't using the information to improve quali- ty. The survey found that just 28 percent of surveyed practices used the quality scores to focus quality improvement ac- tivities, and just 27 percent said current measures were moderately or strongly representative of the quality of care. "There is much to gain from quality measurement, but the current system is far from being efficient and contributes to negative physician attitudes toward quality measures," the authors wrote. They noted that rapid improvements to the system will be difficult to make, but urged focus on the area. "Our data sug- gest that U.S. healthcare leaders should make these efforts a priority." Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, president and CEO of MGMA, said in a state- ment, "This study proves that the cur- rent top-down approach has failed. It serves no purpose to have over 3,000 competing measures of quality across government and private initiatives. Al- though standardization is critical, if measures don't improve patient care, it's an exercise in futility. As the largest contributor to the problem, the federal government needs to get out of the business of dictating pa- tient care through wasteful mandates and create simplified systems to sup- port medical practices in improving quality across the country." n Walgreens Partners With UnitedHealth's Pharmacy Arm By Tamara Rosin W algreens and OptumRx, United- Health Group's freestanding phar- macy care services business, are joining forces. e new partnership aims to create a pharmacy solution to meet consumers' evolving prescription drug needs and support employers, health plans and their members to achieve better health outcomes and greater cost savings. OptumRx currently manages more than 1 bil- lion prescriptions annually. rough the partnership, OptumRx, based in Eden Prairie, Minn., and Deerfield, Ill.-based Walgreens will create a more convenient, ac- cessible and connected pharmacy experience. e companies will collaborate to deliver cli- ents and members enrolled in the program an integrated pharmacy care offering that: • Gives eligible OptumRx members the oppor- tunity to fill 90-day prescriptions at home de- livery copay levels at any of Walgreens' nearly 8,200 pharmacies nationwide or through Op- tumRx home delivery. • Produces improved medication adherence and better patient outcomes by allowing pa- tients to choose how to receive their medica- tions, along with 24/7 pharmacist availability. • Connects members to professionals who can provide clinical guidance to address specific disease classes, such as diabetes, and increase drug adherence. • Enables OptumRx and Walgreens systems to better connect and communicate health data and analytics to ensure members receive the most effective prescription drugs at an appro- priate cost. Walgreens and OptumRx expect the new phar- macy solution to be available to commercial clients implementing new 90-day prescription benefit designs beginning Jan. 1, 2017. n "Although standardization is critical, if measures don't improve patient care, it's an exercise in futility." — Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, president and CEO of MGMA