Center for Studying Health System Change Issues Report on Physician Ranking

Health plan physician performance ratings are increasingly used, often unfairly, to rank physicians. Physicians are concerned that the measurement inaccuracies may jeopardize their reputations and livelihoods. However, the physician performance rating debate has often lacked how patients and consumers feel about this topic. The Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) conducted a national study that focused on the consumer perspective on physician performance ratings. According to HSC’s study, at least one-third of adults have a tolerance for inaccuracy of only 5% or less. Approximately ¾ of all respondees indicated that they wanted at least 80% accuracy in ratings when being used to select their own physician or being used for payment purposes. http://www.hschange.org/CONTENT/921/