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 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 recognition 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 recognizing those who demonstrate they provide high quality care in their communities.
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Data Conduit: After 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 to provide multiple pathways for physicians to apply for and achieve BTE recognition. Physicians can extract medical record data and submit directly to a PAO, and, for those physicians with electronic medical record data, they will increasingly have the option to submit data to a PAO through their electronic system vendor or “data aggregator” through BTE’s new automated Performance Assessment System.
BTE's Automated Performance Assessment System
In order to speed up, simplify and standardize a national physician performance assessment process, Bridges to Excellence has created a new Performance Assessment System for physicians using electronic medical record data. The availability of real-time, credible data will make it easier both for physicians to participate in Bridges to Excellence and for health plans to implement their local and national pay-for-performance (P4P) programs. Through this effort, BTE will determine the importance of rapid performance feedback tied to incentives in getting physicians to continuously improve the quality of their care. The program has the potential to significantly increase the number and frequency of physician quality assessments and provide more timely and reliable information for physicians, payers and consumers.
Consistent with BTE’s principles, the new assessment programs are still voluntary and anonymous for physicians – only successful recognitions will be reported to BTE by the performance assessment organizations. BTE’s new performance assessment programs use standardized sets of measures and criteria including AQA/NQF-endorsed and NCQA-developed measures. View BTE’s Diabetes Care Link, Cardiac Care Link, Hypertension Care Link, Coronary Artery Disease Care Link, Congestive Heart Failure Care Link, Asthma Care Link and COPD Care Link measures and criteria.
Additionally, physicians submitting electronic data through a CCHIT-certified EMR for performance assessment in one of BTE’s disease-specific programs, such as Diabetes Care Link or Cardiac Care Link, will receive credit for Physician Office Link Level II, which can be used towards qualifying for BTE’s Medical Home program.
For its initial pilot programs, BTE is partnering with several electronic data aggregators across the country to leverage existing reporting initiatives. These data aggregators include EMR vendors, patient registries, decision support tool vendors, and health information exchanges. Data aggregators act as the interface between their physician customers and BTE’s designated PAOs, IPRO and MN Community Measurement, by ensuring the accuracy of data intake, sending the data to the PAOs for performance measurement, and reporting assessment results and quality improvement opportunities back to the physicians.
More information on data aggregator participation
Read more about BTE’s new performance assessment system: