MSDC Tackles P4P on Behalf of Its Membership

“Pay-for-performance,” often shortened to “P4P,” is emerging as an issue of tremendous interest and concern to the Medical Society. Many insurers, including Medicare, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Aetna, and—most recently—UnitedHealth, have announced, launched or are sustaining programs aimed at rewarding physicians for care that meets or exceeds certain benchmarks. As a result, MSDC is scrutinizing the methodology employed in these programs and speaking out on behalf of DC physicians.

MSDC’s aggressive P4P campaign includes the following activities:

• The Medical Society’s Delegation to the American Medical Association’s Interim Meeting submitted a resolution request that the AMA strongly “oppose economic credentialing under any name, and specifically pay for performance.” The resolution asks that the AMA start a campaign to discredit P4P and label it as economic credentialing. The resolution was referred to the AMA Board for a report back to the House of Delegates at the 2007 Annual Meeting.
• An initial meeting with representatives of UnitedHealth regarding its “Premium Designation” program raised concerns among MSDC’s leadership. The insurer recently announced that the launch of the program will be delayed: physicians are now expected to receive information about their quality and efficiency scores in late January/early February 2007 and consumers will be able to see the designations on the UnitedHealth website in March or April 2007.
• To educate physicians about P4P, a primer was developed by MSDC and added to its website. CLICK HERE to access the document.

MSDC, in partnership with the AMA, will continue to protect physicians against economic credentialing and other practices that adversely impact the physician-patient relationship. The Medical Society wants to hear your concerns about P4P. Please send them to dlove@msdc.org.