The following are links to physician issues-related articles that may be of interest to physicians.
For links to additional articles, please visit OHA’s Health Profession Nuggets page to view the archives of our article compilations.
OMA Negotiations: Pay For Results - Dr. Peter Walker and Dr. Michael Guerriere
After a generous settlement in 2008, the Ontario government bought four years of relative harmony with the province’s doctors. However, the province’s dire fiscal situation and on-going concerns about care quality make the 2012 negotiations the most important in memory. We offer here our prescription for a successful round for physicians, patients and taxpayers. (Click here for article.) Source: Longwoods
Quality incentives become bigger factor in physician compensation
Pay-for-performance measures, including patient satisfaction and quality improvement, have gained prominence in determining incentive pay. (Click here for article.) Source: amednews.com.
Electronic Consultations Between Primary and Specialty Clinicians
This issue brief explores the promise of e-consultation in health care, an emerging tool that allows primary care clinicians to communicate with specialists about patient matters through e-mail, shared electronic medical record systems, or other computer applications. The authors say the technology holds potential to improve health care quality and reduce specialty care costs. Source: The Commonwealth Fund
What's in a name (or a degree)?
With more than 7,000 nurses now graduating each year with doctorate degrees, the New York Times looks at growing tensions around clinicians like nurses identifying themselves as "Dr." Many more nurses, pharmacists and physical therapists are opting for doctorates, a move that physicians in medical societies believe will lead to those professionals eventually lobbying for more prescribing power, compensation and autonomy. According to the article, MDs and DOs still receive almost twice the amount of training as do doctorates in other clinical professions. Some states now prohibit nurses, pharmacists and physical therapists with doctorates from identifying themselves as doctors unless they immediately state their profession. Read more in the New York Times. Source: Today’s Hospitalist
Health Care Quality Improvement: There's an App for That
Providers have proven eager adopters of health care "apps," the software applications used on cell phones and other mobile devices to perform specific tasks, such as charting data points or aggregating information. Apps can be easily integrated into providers' workflow, delivering information when and where they need it. Disease management apps, in particular, can improve communication between patients and providers and promote adherence to recommended care. Still, for apps to achieve their potential to improve health care quality, they will need to be factored into reimbursement models and meet clear clinical needs. (Click here for article.) Source: The Commonwealth Fund
Value-Based Physician Compensation — The Building Blocks
Health care reform legislation in the U.S. is causing a dramatic transformation in the hospital-physician relationship. Along with an industry-wide focus on quality outcomes and pay for performance, health care organizations are looking at new ways to pay doctors for their services. (Click here for article.) Source: Towers Watson
Improving patient safety and physician accountability using the hospital credentialing process
The lack of systematic oversight of physician performance has led to some serious cases related to physician competence and behaviour. We are currently implementing a hospital-wide approach to improve physician oversight by incorporating it into the hospital credentialing process. Our proposed credentialing method involves four systems: (1) a system for monitoring and reporting clinical performance; (2) a system for evaluating physician behaviour; (3) a complaints management system; and (4) an administrative system for maintaining documentation. (Click here for article.) Source: Open Medicine
St. Joe’s implements physician leadership development program
Physician leadership is critical to the ability of St. Joseph’s Health Centre Toronto to deliver on its strategy to be The Best. The hospital relies on physicians to take on leadership roles to participate in decision making that will help the hospital to deliver the best care to patients, their families and the surrounding communities. (Click here for article.) Source: Hospital News
Changing Physician-Hospital Relationships
With the goal of contributing to effective physician-hospital relationships, the Canadian Medical Protective Association developed a paper to identify the medico-legal implications associated with the changing relationships between physicians and hospitals and to offer recommendations that address these implications. (Click here for article.)
Source: The Canadian Medical Protective Association
Canada’s Physician Supply
The supply of physicians practicing in Canada continues to be a hot topic in health care. Read about the Fraser Institute’s projections of physician supply in the coming years and how this will impact the delivery of health care services in the country.
(Click here for article.) Source: The Fraser Institute