[May 18, 2012]

New Survey Shows California Physician Groups Improving Capabilities in Patient Care Coordination

The California Association of Physician Groups (CAPG) kicked off their annual healthcare conference today in Palm Desert, CA (News - Alert), with the results of the organization's sixth annual Standards of Excellence member survey that reveals how "well-equipped" physician groups are to provide high-value patient care.

"California has long been at the forefront of accountable care, which is the ability to bring value in both quality and affordability to patients," said Donald Crane, President and CEO of CAPG. "This annual assessment clearly illustrates the leadership of California's physicians groups to continually improve the sophistication and efficiency of the care they provide patients. We're not waiting for federal directives or for the outcome of the Supreme Court decision on the Accountable Care Act. We are innovating reforms right now to integrate a disjointed healthcare delivery system that can serve as a model for the rest of the country."

The Standards of Excellence survey is the first known voluntary large scale, critical self-assessment for medical groups in the United States. According to CAPG's Medical Director, Wells Shoemaker, M.D., "CAPG developed the Standards of Excellence survey to annually assess and publicly report on the progress physician groups are making towards being a national leader in coordinating a patient's care. The survey is a blue print for how to assess the tools and processes physician groups have in place to meet the escalating expectations of healthcare purchasers and patients. The survey helps set the bar for healthcare consumers to evaluate a physician group's technical quality, responsive patient experience, and affordability," said Dr. Shoemaker.

"The significance of this survey is that it provides anyone involved with healthcare, whether it's purchasers, providers or government and regulatory agencies, with an evaluation of how well-equipped physician groups are to provide high-value patient care," said Dr. Shoemaker.

"In this year's survey, a rel="nofollow" href="http://cts.businesswire.com/ct/CT?id=smartlink&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.capg.org%2Fdocs%2F2012_soe_star_chart_v2.pdf&esheet=50283571&lan=en-US&anchor=30+physician+groups&index=4&md5=bc8c95f6b0bc67927c86d2b3356288e5">30 physician groups, more than any in previous surveys, reached the highest 'Elite' status despite the fact that the survey featured more stringent documentation requirements and increased transparency thresholds," said Dr. Shoemaker.

"We're not surprised, but we're particularly proud, that all of the six California-based groups that were chosen by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to participate in the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization project scored in the 'Elite' category of the survey. Our physician groups already have a high-level of expertise in coordinating care for patients in a way that lowers costs, improves care, and makes populations healthier," said Crane.

The Standards of Excellence survey analyzes physician group infrastructure capabilities in four areas, each considered central to providing quality, consistency, responsiveness, and affordability for CAPG's estimated 12 million HMO patients and approximately 6 million PPO patients. Survey results can be found at http://www.capg.org/home/index.asp?page=274.

The five key survey elements include:

• Care Management Practices - inpatient and outpatient systems to support physicians and patients to achieve reliability, safety, continuity and affordability.
• Health Information Technology - electronic registries to support chronic care, preventive care, professional communication, and advanced electronic record systems.
• Accountability and Transparency - participation in measuring and public reporting, including compliance with stringent fiscal responsibility regulations of the State of California.
• Patient Centered Care - features to accommodate individualized patient needs and preferences, embracing a responsible role in a culturally diverse community.
• Fiscal and Administrative Capability - was tested (scores not reported) to monitor the complex infrastructure needed to manage multiple revenue streams, create novel payment methodologies, maintain intricate network relationships, and handle intricate contractual relationships that are all pertinent to the challenge of creating Accountable Care Organizations nationwide.

The 2012 survey results revealed the following:

• 73 medical groups caring for nearly 11 million Californians participated in the voluntary survey.
• 30 organizations - caring for a population of more than 9 million people - qualified for the "Elite" category, meaning they surpassed a stiff, peer-defined threshold in all four categories. This total is up from 20 groups in 2009 and 25 in 2011, despite more stringent criteria.
• 6 organizations, caring for 400,000 people, qualified for "Exemplary" performance, meaning they surpassed the threshold in three of the four categories.

About the Standards of Excellence Survey

CAPG conducts its Standards of Excellence survey annually among its 150 member physician groups to gain an understanding of their "infrastructure" and to offer metrics to measure progress in clinical quality, affordability, access, technology, public accountability, and individual responsiveness to their patients. To view the survey results visit: http://www.capg.org/home/index.asp?page=274.

About CAPG

The California Association of Physician Groups (CAPG) represents groups that employ or contract with nearly 60,000 California doctors and provide care to 18 million Californians. CAPG is committed to improving healthcare for Californians and supports a progressive and organized system of healthcare delivery, which focuses on coordinated treatment plans and comprehensive coverage, including the most current preventive services and exams. This allows physicians to focus on illness prevention and proactive management of patients in order to maintain their optimum level of health.

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