PHYSICIAN GROUPS IMPROVE QUALITY AND GENERATE SAVINGS UNDER MEDICARE PHYSICIAN PAY FOR PERFORMANCE DEMONSTRATION

I believe most if not all had HIT in place.SV

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced today that all participating physician groups improved the clinical management of diabetes patients in the first year of the three-year Medicare Physician Group Practice (PGP) Demonstration. This demonstration rewards providers for coordinating and managing the overall health care needs of Medicare patients with chronic conditions.

Under the demonstration, which began April 1, 2005, physician groups continue to be paid on a fee-for-service basis and have the opportunity to share in savings generated from enhancements in care management.

All ten of the participating physician groups - Billings Clinic, Everett Clinic, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Clinic, Forsyth Medical Group, Geisinger Clinic, Middlesex Health System, Marshfield Clinic, Park Nicollet Health Services, St. John's Health System, and the University of Michigan Faculty Group Practice - achieved benchmark or target performance on at least seven of the ten diabetes clinical quality measures. Two physician groups -- Forsyth Medical Group and St. John's Health System - met all ten benchmarks.

These physician groups have redesigned care to improve clinical quality and to create more efficient and effective delivery systems. As a result, in addition to the quality improvements across all groups, two groups - Marshfield Clinic and University of Michigan Faculty Group Practice - earned performance payments for quality and efficiency of $7.3 million as their share of the $9.5 million in savings to the Medicare program. Additional groups had lower Medicare spending growth rates than their local markets but not sufficiently lower to share in savings.

CMS