Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island has launched the Hospital Quality Program, which realigns financial incentives so hospitals that provide high-quality patient care receive more compensation.
The program relies on hospital metrics that measure treatment quality around specific conditions, such as pneumonia and heart disease. Many of those metrics are gleaned from Hospital "Discharge Best Practice" Measures, which were created by Quality Partners of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Quality Institute, local hospitals and local physicians in collaboration with state health plans. The metrics also assess patient perceptions regarding their healthcare experience.
Under the terms of the program, base hospital reimbursement increases are aligned with inflation, with additional financial incentives available to hospitals that successfully meet the agreed-upon quality scores.
So far, 90 percent of the hospitals in the BCBSRI network have agreed to participate in the program this year. BCBSRI hopes for 100 percent participation by the end of 2012.
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The program relies on hospital metrics that measure treatment quality around specific conditions, such as pneumonia and heart disease. Many of those metrics are gleaned from Hospital "Discharge Best Practice" Measures, which were created by Quality Partners of Rhode Island, the Rhode Island Quality Institute, local hospitals and local physicians in collaboration with state health plans. The metrics also assess patient perceptions regarding their healthcare experience.
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Under the terms of the program, base hospital reimbursement increases are aligned with inflation, with additional financial incentives available to hospitals that successfully meet the agreed-upon quality scores.
So far, 90 percent of the hospitals in the BCBSRI network have agreed to participate in the program this year. BCBSRI hopes for 100 percent participation by the end of 2012.
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