Risk Management:
Preparing for Value-Driven Healthcare
Page 3
As we said in the January, 2007 “Risk Review” issue, for better or worse, the stakes of physicians, their hospitals and liability carriers are inextricably tied to each other. This will prove to be even more the case as Value Driven Health Care begins to be rolled out in earnest beginning in late 2007 during Open Enrollment for calendar 2008 at major corporations and insurers that have signed on to this initiative. Information concerning how well (or not so well) various liability carriers’ hospital and physician policyholders are doing in treating patients with a broad range of clinical conditions will become increasingly more available with not only value based purchasing, but also potential medical legal implications.
As we also said in that January issue: “The success of any quality and safety improvement initiative depends on the alignment of interests and ongoing cooperation of participating hospitals and their staff physicians.” Physicians seeking to optimize their quality ratings will need to affiliate with and participate in safety and quality initiatives at hospitals (as well as through their clinical practices) designed to improve the clinical and financial outcomes to be compared, evaluated and broadcast to those who receive and/or finance their medical services. Hospitals will need to gain the buy in and support of their key physicians for any of their quality and safety initiatives to bear fruit and improve their own standing in the eyes of their patients and payers soon to be wielding the clout which comes with unprecedented information concerning the comparative value of care being delivered.
Princeton, in conjunction with some of its strategic allies in patient safety and health data analysis, aims to help physician and hospital policyholders design and implement safety and quality initiatives that not only decrease the chances of getting sued, but also assist in the preparation for value driven health care.
We are currently evaluating claims data that supports the adoption of specific patient safety initiatives. Our goal is to provide our insureds with some focus on their adoption.
Future issues
Future issues will focus more upon some of the particular safety and quality improvement initiatives which hospitals and physicians looking to work together may undertake. These issues will also provide more specific ways by which Princeton may provide data, tools and resources not available from other sources to help hospital and physician policyholders to prepare for value driven health care, while optimizing the quality and safety of their care.