Studies Examine Increasing Efficiency In Physician Care, Costs, Benefits Of Health IT;

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: IT / Internet / E-mail;  Public Health
Article Date: 22 May 2008 - 9:00 PDT

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"Beyond the Efficiency Index: Finding a Better Way To Reduce Overuse and Increase Efficiency in Physician Care," Health Affairs: In the Web exclusive, Robert Greene, a former associate medical director at the Rochester Individual Practice Association and a vice president for clinical analytics at UnitedHealthcare, and colleagues discuss an alternative approach to pay-for-performance systems that is intended to engage physicians as partners in identifying and addressing areas of overuse and misuse. The study authors also detail how this approach was used among about 900 primary care physicians and 2,500 specialists at Rochester Individual Practice Association in New York (Health Affairs release, 5/20).

"Evidence on the Costs and Benefits of Health Information Technology," Congressional Budget Office: The CBO paper examines evidence on the costs and benefits of health IT; possible barriers to broader distribution and use in hospitals and clinicians' offices; and possible options for the federal government to promote the use of health IT (CBO, May 2008).

"The '3T's' Road Map To Transform U.S. Health Care: The 'How' of High-Quality Care," Journal of the American Medical Association: The JAMA commentary by Denise Dougherty and Patrick Conway of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality discusses ways to translate basic science into clinical research that results in improved care delivery and health outcomes for patients. The authors discuss four main activities for transforming the U.S. health care system, including measurement and accountability; implementation and system redesign; scaling and spread; and research. The authors write that a national discussion among stakeholders is key to transforming the health care system, in addition to shared leadership, teamwork, tools and resources (Dougherty/Conway, JAMA, 5/21).

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