Newspapers Examine Hospital, Physician Ranking Programs

Main Category: Public Health
Also Included In: Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 23 Aug 2007 - 2:00 PDT

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Newspapers recently published articles examining hospitals and physician ranking programs. Summaries appear below.

• Hospital rankings: New online databases give consumers "more power than ever to check a medical facility's record" on quality measures ranging from hospital infection rates to surgery success rates, but health care experts say ranking systems are "imperfect and contradictory" and "often confusing and frustrating to consumers," the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reports. Federal officials in 2005 started ranking hospitals online on how often the facilities followed two dozen practices that have been shown to prevent complications from surgeries or hospitalizations. State governments and private-sector groups also have launched ranking Web sites. However, critics say such Web sites often lack context to help consumers interpret the numbers, and in some rankings, the difference between scores for the highest- and lowest-ranking hospitals are a fraction of a percentage point, making it difficult for consumers to draw conclusions, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Health officials and consumer advocates maintain that rankings can help patients make choices about care, encourage physicians and insurers to use better-performing hospitals and push hospital officials to use better practices (LaMendola, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 8/19).
  
  
• Physician rankings: Physician ranking programs developed by health insurers have raised concerns among state regulators and physicians, the Wall Street Journal reports. According to health insurers, such programs seek to help members find physicians who provide the highest quality of care. However, some critics "accuse insurers of concentrating more on cost than quality when handing out the preferred labels" and maintain that the information used to rank physicians "is prone to error," the Journal reports. In addition, physicians maintain that the "contracts they signed with the insurers to join their networks don't allow the companies to differentiate among doctors within the plans," according to the Journal (Wall Street Journal, 8/21). New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo (D) last week warned Aetna and Cigna that their planned physician ranking programs likely would confuse or mislead members because of problems with the information used to rank physicians. Last month, Cuomo warned UnitedHealth Group to cancel the launch of a similar program or face possible legal action (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 8/17). In addition, the Fairfield County Medical Association and a group of orthopedists on July 26 filed a lawsuit in Superior Court in Danbury, Conn., against Cigna and UnitedHealth over allegations related to their physician ranking programs. The lawsuit, which seeks class-action status, accuses the companies of libel, unfair trade practices and breach of contract, and seeks to require them to end the programs (Wall Street Journal, 8/21).

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