Bridges to Excellence

Operational in AR, CA, CO, DC, GA, KY, MA, ME, MD, MN, NC, NJ, NY, OH, VA, WA

Purpose:

To improve the quality of care by recognizing and rewarding health care providers who demonstrate that they have implemented comprehensive solutions in the management of patients, and deliver safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable and patient-centered care

Target Population:

Health care providers

Program Goals:

• Encourage the investments needed to transform health care processes to reduce mistakes

• Reduce waste and inefficiency through significant reductions in defects (misuse, underuse, overuse)

• Increase accountability and quality improvements through the development and release of comparative provider performance data to consumers

Years in Operation:

2003 – present

Results:

• Incentives that reward physicians for adopting better systems of care result in physician practice reengineering and adoption of health information technology.

• Incentives that reward physicians for delivering good outcomes to patients with diabetes result in physicians' changing the way they provide care - from reactive to proactive - and in patients' getting better care.

• Physicians who are recognized for adopting better systems of care, and physicians who deliver better outcomes for patients with diabetes are more cost-efficient (on a severity and case-mix adjusted basis) than physicians who are not recognized.

• Performance measures that focus on intermediate outcomes for patients with diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, coronary artery disease, and cardiovascular disease, and measures of effective treatment protocols for patients with recent cardiac events hold the highest clinical and actuarial value of most measures of ambulatory care.

Funding:

Funding is provided by participating employers and health plans. Providers fund the investments needed to adopt information technology and other practice improvements.

Key Partners:

Health care providers; health plans; employers; patients

What Works and Why:

Providers are offered meaningful monetary incentives and recognition for meeting program objectives. The costs and benefits of participating in the incentive program are explained to the providers at the outset. Providers must perform self-assessments of performance and receive third-party validation for award eligibility. This effort has proven a powerful agent of change.

Structure and Operations:

Bridges to Excellence (BTE) is a not-for-profit organization developed by employers, physicians, health care services, researchers and other industry experts. The program relies upon offering physicians sufficient incentives to adopt new technology and change practice patterns to achieve better health outcomes. Both the amount of the reward and the achievements required to attain reward levels are described at the outset. Provider rewards are paid per BTE patient seen by the provider. Participating practices make the changes needed and conduct rigorous self-assessments of their performance. An independent, reputable third party validates the assessment. Currently, BTE has programs to reward changes in adoption of health information technology, diabetes care, cardiac care, spine care, and providing a medical home. BTE is also piloting a new program to reward comprehensive care.

Barriers to Success:

Maintaining sufficient incentives as additional programs are added contributes to complexity for providers. Having a sufficiently large patient population to tempt providers to participate can be difficult.

More Information:

http://www.bridgestoexcellence.org

Download:

Download this program information in PDF format.