BTE Participation for Performance Assessment Organizations (PAOs)
The Bridges to Excellence programs demonstrate that self-assessment of performance and its validation by an independent third party is a very powerful agent of change for physicians and practices. Physicians and practices that are eligible to participate in a BTE implementation have to perform a self-audit of their current performance. This effort, while time consuming, results in the creation of a roadmap for change. BTE has many testimonials from physicians and practices that provide evidence for this.
The independent third parties that assess physician and practice performance for BTE are called Performance Assessment Organizations (PAOs). PAOs use rigorous sets of performance measures based on clinical outcomes data that physicians and practices voluntarily submit from their own systems or charts for scoring. The PAO provides the certification information to BTE for the purposes of providing financial rewards that are distributed to recognized physicians. PAO measures must be challenging but fair and attainable, continue to raise the bar and push accountability while having clear and attributable savings.
PAOs have two critical roles in their BTE efforts:
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Performance Evaluator: PAOs are responsible for evaluating the performance of local physicians and practices in BTE regions and accrediting/recognizing those who demonstrate they provide high quality care in their communities.
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Data Conduit: After accrediting/recognizing eligible physicians, PAOs act as the data conduit, submitting recognition data to BTE's data platform, the Recognition Data Exchange (RDE). The RDE distributes individual physicians' recognition information to BTE administrators, communicating which physicians have earned rewards.
BTE works with both national and regional performance assessment organizations:
Current Programs
Physician Office Link: NCQA (national), MassPRO (Massachusetts), IPRO (New York)
Diabetes Care Link: NCQA (national), MN Community Measurement (Minnesota)
Cardiac Care Link: NCQA (national), MN Community Measurement (Minnesota)
Spine Care Link: NCQA (national)
Depression Care Management Link: MN Community Measurement (Minnesota)
Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) interested in becoming a performance assessment organization for BTE should review the QIO Toolkit for more information. All other interested performance assessors should contact BTE's Operations Director.
BTE is also testing a new national PAO system in 2008 to speed up, simplify and standardize the physician performance assessment process and determine the importance of rapid, continuous feedback loops to physicians.