Women's health leader says 'patient charter' is critical to improve quality of care for patients

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today’s announcement that leading consumer and employer groups have forged an agreement with physician organizations and health insurers on principles to guide measurement and reporting on physician performance is a significant step toward improving the quality of care for patients in this country, according to one of the nation’s leading consumer health advocates, National Partnership for Women & Families President Debra L. Ness.

Unveiled today, the new “Patient Charter for Physician Performance Measurement, Reporting and Tiering Programs” is a set of principles that will guide health plans in measuring doctors’ performance and reporting the information to consumers. Ness hailed it as a way to promote better decision making and more patient-centered care. “This is a critical building block in the effort to improve the quality of health care in this country,” she said. “Right now in the United States, patients have no more than a 50/50 chance of getting the right care at the right time for the right reason. Poor care takes a terrible toll in lives diminished or lost and health dollars wasted. It disproportionately affects women and people of color, and diverts precious resources from imperatives like providing health insurance coverage for all people. The agreement reached today can begin to change that by putting patients first and giving them the tools they need to make the best possible choices about their medical care.”

“For too long, health plans and doctors have been at odds and patients have suffered as a result,” Ness continued. “Today, it is easier to find information about a dishwasher you want to buy than a doctor who may hold your life in her/his hands. Consumers need meaningful information about quality and cost so they can make informed choices and sound decisions about where they get their care and how they spend their health care dollars. The new ‘Patient Charter’ calls for complete transparency, measurement based on sound science, input from consumers to ensure that the information reported is useful to them, and input from doctors to ensure fairness.”