My last post addressed how time constraints and other problems in the medical system interfere with a physician’s ability to provide good service. Last week The New York Times reported that an influential nonprofit organization focused on health care has proposed changes to relieve some of the pressure.
The plan, developed by The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) and titled the Physician Practice Connection (PPC), includes identifying top notch doctors and paying them for longer office visits, as well as phone and e-mail communications after hours, none of which currently are reimbursed by insurance companies. NCQA presented its plan on Nov. 7 in Washington, D.C., before the Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) Call to Action Summit, a meeting of doctors, insurers and employers that provide health benefits.
The PPC is specifically geared toward reducing costs associated with chronic illness. Chronic illness care for 20 percent of patients is responsible for 80 percent of the health care costs, said Dr. Arnold Milstein, medical director of the Pacific Business Group on Health.
“The plan recognizes physicians who already have effective systems in place to care for their patients,” said Lauren Funk, Manager of Communications for NCQA. “In January 2008 we will be modifying the plan to center more on the Medical Home concept, a buzz word in the medical community right now, with the primary care physician in charge of care for each patient. That concept is nothing new. We are just returning to it.”
The Medical Home concept will be challenging to implement. The Academy of Family Physicians reports that less than 8 percent of medical school graduates chose family practice this year. Most likely these decisions were based partly on the higher compensation rates available for specialists.
The American Academy of Family Physicians, the American College of Physicians — Internal Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the American Osteopathic Association have endorsed some aspects of the PPC. Twenty doctors in Missouri already are practicing in this new style, and Boeing is giving the plan a trial run at its facility in Seattle, with plans to expand it to other cities if it sees positive results.
Wellpoint, UnitedHealth Group, Aetna, Cigna, Humana, and the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association also are testing the plan along with International Business Machines Corporation, CVS Caremark, Medco Health Solutions, Walgreen’s, and the Erisa Industry Committee, an employers group.
For more information, read the article in The New York Times or visit the NCQA and PCPCC Websites.
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