Partners

BTE was developed by employers, physicians, health care services researchers and other industry experts with a simple mission: to create significant leaps in the quality of care by recognizing and rewarding health care providers who demonstrate that they have implemented comprehensive solutions in the management of patients and deliver safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable and patient-centered care.

Partner Description

NCQA will select which physicians qualify for rewards based on evaluating and verifying their data. NCQA is the leading independent organization providing information that allows purchasers and consumers of health care to distinguish among health plans and physicians based on quality of care.

Medstat

Medstat, a Thomson business and leading health information company, is BTE's general contractor and acts as overall program manager. Medstat is responsible for working with BTE leadership to develop and manage the BTE program, working with health plans to obtain data and generate patient counts for physicians, managing program communications, administering physician reward payments, and leading the program's evaluation plan.

Michael Pine and Associates

Michael Pine and Associates, a consulting firm that specializes in measuring clinical performance, will help participating physicians "risk adjust" their data to account for the relative health of the patients they treat.

WebMD

WebMD is responsible for developing the interactive, online tools that consumers will use to look up physician certification information, monitor and self-manage their illnesses, and track and redeem bonus points for rewards. WebMD sends program information to patients and manages the distribution of patient rewards.

HealthGrades

HealthGrades (NASDAQ: HGRD) is the leading healthcare quality ratings and services company and is dedicated to guiding America to better healthcare. Millions of consumers and many of the nation's largest employers, health plans and hospitals rely on HealthGrades' independent ratings and decision-support resources to make healthcare decisions based on quality of care. HealthGrades has partnered with Bridges to Excellence to host physician and practice enrollment through their Physician Online Services site. HealthGrades' Physician Quality Reports for consumers and Strategic Health Solutions products feature Bridges to Excellence physician and practice recognitions.

National Business Coalition on Health

With generous financial support from Aventis and Novo Nordisk, NBCH has launched an initiative to help local business coalitions take a leadership role in the implementation of "Bridges to Excellence" (BTE). Working with BTE's general contractor, Medstat, NBCH has developed a set of materials to help coalitions and purchasers better understand BTE for implementation within their communities, and will provide technical assistance to coalitions moving BTE forward in their markets. For more information contact the NBCH at 202-775-9300.

The Leapfrog Group

The Leapfrog Group is made up of more than 170 companies and organizations that buy health care. Leapfrog and its members work together to:
• Reduce preventable medical mistakes and improve the quality and affordability of health care.
• Reward doctors and hospitals for improving the quality, safety and affordability of health care.
• Encourage public reporting of health care quality and outcomes so that consumers and purchasing organizations can make more informed health care choices.
• Help consumers reap the benefits of making smart health care decisions.