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The Physician Performance Assessment application is the first of its kindto emphasize clinical quality in two distinct ways. First, it evaluateswhether medical care follows established clinical guidelines while it accountsfor the severity and duration of the medical condition being treated. Itdoesn't focus merely on the consumption of healthcare resources. Second, itgenerates reports that inform physicians and physician networks about gaps intheir patient care, so they can take corrective steps and improve clinicalquality.
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"Organizations that pay for medical care - health plans, employers, andgovernment agencies - need to assess whether they are getting value for theirmoney," said Thomson Healthcare Vice President Jeff Hanson. "And physiciansare concerned that rating systems are more focused on cutting costs thanraising quality. Our methodology meets the needs of healthcare payers - in away that is credible, fair and helpful to doctors."
Thomson Healthcare has years of experience measuring the quality and costof healthcare for leading health plans, hospitals, government agencies, andleading employer consortiums such as The Leapfrog Group and Bridges toExcellence. "The knowledge and methodologies developed through our extensiveexperience are distilled into the Physician Performance Assessmentapplication," Hanson said.
This new analytic solution effectively analyzes the cost and quality ofmedical care by:
Physician Performance Assessment also helps doctors improve the quality ofcare, because it shows how they compare with their peers and generates reportsthat identify gaps in care and "action lists" indicating which patients needintervention. For example, doctors are informed whether their diabeticpatients have received all the recommended care and, if not, which patientsare missing tests or treatments. Physician networks are shown who among theirdoctors are high performers and who needs remediation.
About Thomson Healthcare
Thomson Healthcare is the leading provider of decision support solutionsthat help organizations across the healthcare industry improve clinical andbusiness performance. Thomson Healthcare products and services helpclinicians, hospitals, employers, health plans, government agencies, andpharmaceutical companies manage the cost and improve the quality ofhealthcare.
Thomson Healthcare is a part of The Thomson Corporation, a provider ofvalue-added information, software tools and applications to professionals inthe fields of healthcare, law, tax, accounting, scientific research, andfinancial services. The Corporation's common shares are listed on the New Yorkand Toronto stock exchanges (NYSE: TOC; TSX: TOC). For more information, visit(www.thomsonhealthcare.com).* Accounting for the severity of a patient's disease and other complicating conditions as well as their health risk. In this way, Physician Performance Assessment levels the playing field for doctors with sicker patients - ensuring fair comparisons with their peers. * Evaluating physician performance from a clinical point of view, while also assessing the use of healthcare resources. This approach looks at the severity and duration of the medical condition and how it can best be treated, keeping the focus on the quality of care and not just the cost. * Using widely accepted and scientifically valid measures of physician performance developed by the National Quality Forum, The National Committee for Quality Assurance, and the AQA (formerly the Ambulatory Care Quality Alliance). These metrics are the healthcare industry's m
