Show Results for Maine Doctors

Disclaimer: Measures of HealthCare Quality

What You Need To Know About Data Used in Developing the Practice Profiles

The disclaimer below has important information you should know about the Pathways to Excellence results.

HOSPITAL DATA DISCLAIMER:

* The information on hospitals is obtained from multiple sources:

* Patient satisfaction data from a survey conducted by the Maine Hospital Association

* A Medication Safety survey that is mailed to ALL hospitals in Maine about medication safety. In this Patient Safety Survey aspect of the Pathways to Excellence project each hospital was asked to complete a survey which was developed by a committee of pharmacists and nurses based on their learnings from the previous surveys and a discussion of the relevant and current literature.

* A summary of hospital results on the Leapfrog Survey

* Summaries of results from the DHHS Hospital Compare website

At this time the web site has been updated to show a pictorial overview of hospital scores. Staff from the Maine Health Information Center (MHIC) is managing the information. The self-reported hospital patient safety survey results have NOT been verified. In all cases, the Coalition and the MHIC have done their best to obtain complete and accurate information.

The Pathways to Excellence Hospital Steering Committee awarded blue ribbons based on their judgment of what current good performance should be recognized with a blue ribbon.

Neither the Coalition nor the Maine Health Information Center is recommending one hospital over another

Please note that by publishing this information, it is not the intention of the Coalition to recommend any particular hospital over any other. Each hospital included in the report includes hospitals that have been licensed by the state.  Most, if not all of the hospitals included in the study participate in some form of utilization review and quality improvement initiatives,

The Coalition and the MHIC urge all individuals to select hospital providers based on personal referrals, direct inquiries, and other detailed information. No individual should select a hospital, or fail to select a hospital, solely on the basis of the limited information presented in these Profiles. The Coalition and the MHIC disclaim any and all liability for the consequences of provider choices made by individuals even if such choices are purportedly influenced by the data presented on this web site. MOREOVER, NEITHER THE COALITION NOR THE MHIC MAY BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY NEGATIVE INFERENCES DRAWN BY PATIENTS OR POTENTIAL PATIENTS WITH RESPECT TO ANY HOSPITAL PARTICIPATING IN THE STUDY BASED ON THE PATIENT SAFETY RATINGS ASSIGNED TO SUCH HOSPITAL IN THE PROFILE

This information may not be reproduced by any non-MHMC member without express permission from the MHMC.

PHYSICIAN DATA DISCLAIMER:

Office Systems Survey:

In the spring of 2007 a survey was mailed to ALL known primary care practices in Maine. In this Office Systems Survey aspect of the Pathways to Excellence project each practice location was asked to complete a survey which was developed by a committee of physicians, employers, and insurers based on their learnings from the previous surveys.

At this time the web site has been updated to show a pictorial overview of practice scores. This indicates the extent to which systems are in place in each practice which responded to the survey. Staff from the Maine Health Information Center (MHIC) is managing the information from the surveys. A sampling of the practices with a full pie symbol have had their self-reported results verified by an independent nurse reviewer. The self-reported office system survey results of most of the other practices have NOT been verified.

In all cases, the Coalition and the MHIC have done their best to obtain complete and accurate information, but acknowledge that we are continually updating our database on practice names and locations. With time and the help of all practices in this project, we hope to see participation of all practices and a more complete report of office systems data.

Outcomes:

In the spring of 2007 a survey was mailed to ALL known primary care practices in Maine asking about their results of care for patients with specific conditions. Practices were invited to submit information on their measurement of patient "outcomes" on their population of patients. Summary data without any personal patient information was requested for diabetes and heart disease for adult doctors (Internal Medicine and Family Practice) and infant immunizations and asthma for Pediatricians.  The Maine Health Information Center received the data from practices.

At this time the web site has been updated to show how the data submitted by practices compares to national benchmarks adapted from Bridges to Excellence and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (www.ncqa.org).  The Steering Committee decided to add a "blue ribbon" designation to practices whose self reported data met or exceeded a national benchmark chosen by the Steering Committee. All of the data reported was submitted by practices. We have only audited or verified the accuracy of some of the data. To a great extent we rely on physician practices attesting that the data they submit is accurate.

For an explanation of how the data was analyzed and how the quality measures were derived please refer to the About Pathways to Excellence section of the web site. In all cases, the Coalition and the MHIC have done their best to obtain complete and accurate information, but acknowledge that the clinical data are imperfect. With time, we expect to see greater accuracy and completeness of encounter data.

Neither the Coalition nor the Maine Health Information Center is recommending one physician group over another

Please note that by publishing the Primary Care Practice Information, it is not the intention of the Coalition to recommend any particular physician group over any other. Each group included in the study includes qualified physicians who have been licensed by the state, credentialed by third party payors and participate in managed care arrangements. Most if not all of the groups included in the study participate in some form of utilization review and quality improvement initiatives, typically under the auspices of the third party payors (but in some cases at the insistence of the employers whose covered employees they treat).

The Coalition and the MHIC urge all individuals to select primary care providers based on personal referrals, direct inquiries, and other detailed information. No individual should select a primary care physician or group, or fail to select a particular physician or group, solely on the basis of the limited information presented in the Primary Care Practice Profiles. The Coalition and the MHIC disclaim any and all liability for the consequences of provider choices made by individuals even if such choices are purportedly influenced by the data presented on this web site. MOREOVER, NEITHER THE COALITION NOR THE MHIC MAY BE HELD LIABLE FOR ANY NEGATIVE INFERENCES DRAWN BY PATIENTS OR POTENTIAL PATIENTS WITH RESPECT TO ANY GROUP PRACTICE PARTICIPATING IN THE STUDY BASED ON THE CLINICAL CARE RATINGS ASSIGNED TO SUCH PRACTICE IN THE PROFILE

This information may not be reproduced by any non-MHMC member without express permission from the MHMC.

NOTICE ON OFFICE SYSTEMS SURVEY DATA: MHMC developed this primary care office systems survey in collaboration with physicians, health plans and employers and freely makes the survey instrument available in the public domain.

We hereby grant to the public an irrevocable, non-exclusive, paid up license to all rights in the work including, without limitation, the right to reproduce, prepare derivative works, distribute copies of the work or derivative works, and perform or display for any purpose and in any medium. Further the MHMC now and forever abandons all rights and privileges of its copyright of the survey and places the office systems survey in the public domain.