Health Care Report Cards

Health care report cards are a burgeoning phenomenon on the health care landscape. Comparative data on health plans, hospitals and physician groups are being published by increasingly diverse sources, on the Internet and otherwise. Customer/patient satisfaction data has dominated much of the field, but more and more, clinical quality comparisons are being offered. There are legal implications for the publishers of this data - whether third parties or self-reported. NCQA's HEDIS data is a major feature in the world of managed care. Although HEDIS data reports on managed care plans its power influences how plans relate to providers. Where a plan contracts with a physician group, for example, how that group will impact on their performance scores is a competitive issue with legal overtones for the physician group. We are helping clients understand the legal and strategic pitfalls and opportunities in responding to the comparative data demands of the new environment. (See our article, "Health Care Report Cards": Quality in the Public's Cross-Hairs.)