In conjunction with the latest public release I interviewed MHQP’s Executive Director, Barbra Rabson. I asked her to explain the new measures in this year’s report, to describe how MHQP’s ratings differ from those of the Group Insurance Commission and HealthGrades, why results are reported at the group level rather than for individual physicians, and about trends that emerge from the data.
One of the key success factors for MHQP has been the strong involvement of the physician community in developing the ratings and previewing the results. The desire for consensus can sometimes slow things down, yet it results in greater buy-in to the implications from the ratings than would otherwise be the case. Although Barbra is too polite to answer my question directly, the contrast with the Group Insurance Commission’s ratings program –which lacks physician input and is the subject of a lawsuit by physicians— is striking.
The PDF format press release is posted in the news section of the site.
April 2, 2009
One thought on “Podcast interview with Barbra Rabson, Executive Director of Massachusetts Health Quality Partners”