Audio New Web site informs consumers about medical providers (story audio) Photos Jim Chase Resources www.mnhealthcare.org -- the new Web site See the findings of the report: find the link for 2004 Results Summary Your Voice Join the conversation with other MPR listeners in the News Forum.

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New Web site informs consumers about medical providers
by Tom Scheck, Minnesota Public Radio
November 10, 2004

Jim Chase with Minnesota Community Measurement says the Web site will help consumers and doctors come together to find the best treatment for a particular condition. (MPR Photo/Tom Scheck)

A coalition of health plans, insurance companies and medical providers has created a Web site that tells Minnesota consumers how well their medical providers are doing on certain aspects of care. The group analyzed data from health clinics across the state, to see which providers were providing appropriate care and which clinics needed improvement. But some medical providers say they're concerned that the information could be used to label certain medical providers as doing a poor job.

St. Paul, Minn. — The newly-created Web site, www.mnhealthcare.org, informs the public about which medical providers are doing a good job treating certain diseases. Jim Chase is the executive director of the Minnesota Community Measurement.

"This is a way for us to engage both the consumers and the providers in a discussion around how do we get better?" said Jim Chase, executive director of the Minnesota Community Measurement. "What we found in the results is that there's room to improve on these measures across the board. There's no one medical group that's doing great in all of them, and there's no one medical group that's doing terrible in all of them."

Chase says his organization examined data from 52 provider groups representing more than 700 clinics over the last year. It doesn't specifically identify how each local neighborhood health clinic is doing when it comes to treatment. Instead, it lists an entire medical group and which percentage of the group's patient population is receiving effective treatment for asthma, diabetes, children's health, depression, high blood pressure and women's health.

It doesn't say that one provider is doing better than the other, but it does rank the providers' track record against an overall state average.

The inappropriate use of this information is to pit one medical community against another, or to use this as a marketing tool, or to use this for any other purpose other than improving quality. - Dr. Michael Gonzalez Campoy

Fairview Health Services Barry Bershow says that data will help patients and doctors. He says patients will become educated about the best treatment for their ailments. In turn, the results will force medical groups to become more competitive.

"They have to be competitive to get into medical school and to succeed there," Bershow said. "We expect that once they know what their actual outcomes are they'll take measures to improve. None of us want to be at the very bottom of the stack."

But some of the information raises concerns. Dr. Michael Gonzalez Campoy, president of the Minnesota Medical Association, says pointing out where medical providers need to improve is a good idea. But he says certain providers deal disproportionately with populations with health risks that could affect their ratings.

Gonzalez Campoy says a medical group that treats mostly Medicaid patients in the inner city might have different results than a group that treats upper income suburbanites.

"The inappropriate use of this information is to pit one medical community against another," Gonzalez Campoy said. "Or to use this as a marketing tool, or to use this for any other purpose other than improving quality."

Officials who are releasing the data are quick to point out that no one provider is the best at treating every condition. They also point out that no one provider is doing poorly for every treatment recommendation.

The University of Minnesota's Jon Christianson teaches health care economics at the Carlson School of Business. He says he expects similar initiatives to develop in the future. Christianson says consumers are becoming more interested in the cost and quality of care, now that they're paying higher co-pays and medical premiums.

"The intent is to make consumers better informed about their decisions," Christianson said. "Down the road, I think the expectation is that consumers will be more informed about the quality of care that's available in their community, and also relating that quality to cost."

Several employer groups are also happy the information is being released. Carolyn Pare with the Buyers Health Care Action Group says consumers will now know how their medical group is doing in terms of treatment.

"It actually gives you an opportunity to look at clinic level results without the health plan view," Pare said. "We feel that's a great thing for the community, because it starts drilling down into the actual health care that's being delivered."

Pare says until now, consumers only knew the cost of going to a certain provider, not if the provider was treating everyone effectively. She says initiatives like this will force medical providers to become more accountable when it comes to treatment outcomes.

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