Bridges to Excellence is a national pay for performance program with a standard data exchange platform and performance measurements, however, each market that implements BTE has the flexibility to tailor the program to their unique region consistent with BTE’s P4P principles. Ultimately this leads to a rich source of experiences and cross market collaborations in which the markets can share and learn from one another. Each market is a collaborative effort of stakeholders: employers, coalitions, health plans and physician organizations/associations with a critical mass of covered lives that join together in a geographic location to combine resources for the purposes of recognizing and rewarding high performing physicians.
The original markets are Boston, MA, Schenectady, NY, Louisville, KY, and Cincinnati, OH and continue to grow and expand today. These markets have paved the way for current markets, having played a crucial role in the evaluation and modification of BTE programs which has brought the programs to their current state of maturation.
In addition, health plans, through their BTE licensing arrangement, are incorporating the BTE principles into their own pay-for-performance programs, allowing purchasers to participate in a boundary-less fashion. For example, a large national employer who has employees in geographic pockets across the country can start to work with its national health plan to use rewards and recognition to encourage providers to participate in the BTE recognition programs and also encourage their employees to seek out those providers, regardless of location.
Regardless of the implementation, whether led by one of the many regional coalitions, a state-wide effort in GA through the Center for Health Care Transformation, or part of a health plan program, there are resources to find the best model that will work for you.