Massachusetts Moves to Implement Quality System
Massachusetts is working to implement a system that would change how the state reimburses hospitals and doctors, according to a report in The Boston Globe.
The new system would reward providers that are able to lower their treatment costs while improving the quality of care provided to patients.
"By examining the standards by which health care quality will be uniformly measured, we can do a much better job of understanding the value of care we are purchasing," wrote Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary JudyAnn Bigby in a press release.
The plan will rank providers according to their ability to adhere to cost and quality measures, and assign co-payments according to a tiered system that takes those rankings in to account. Quality and cost measures will be determined by a seven-person committee that will convene for its first meeting on 25 January.
The program will initially launch with the participation of six Massachusetts hospitals.