PBGH endorses agreement on principles to guide physician performance reporting

Pacific Business Group on Health announces endorsement of the Patient Charter

San Francisco, Calif. (April 1, 2008) – The Pacific Business Group on Health (PBGH) today announced its endorsement of the “Patient Charter for Physician Performance Measurement, Reporting and Tiering Programs”. PBGH has long worked to improve the quality and affordability of health care by giving patients information that will allow them to make more informed choices based on the quality and value provided. The Patient Charter is a key step in assuring both patients and providers that the information used for health care decision making is reliable and fair, and PBGH has encouraged leading physician groups and health plans to commit to its principles.

Other employer, consumer and labor groups also are endorsing the Patient Charter ---- the Leapfrog Group, the National Business Coalition on Health, AARP, AFL-CIO, and the National Partnership for Women & Families. Many leading physician groups and health insurers are also supporting these principles that guide measuring and reporting to patients about doctors’ performance.

“Measuring performance and using that information to inform quality improvement, patient choice and payment is integral to any comprehensive health care reform,” said David Lansky, President & CEO of PBGH. “The Patient Charter fosters doing measurement right, which is a needed foundation for change. PBGH will build our expectation that health plans abide by the Patient Charter into our requests for proposals with major health plans.”