Newswise — On Dec, 1, 2017, UC San Diego Health was recognized with top scores for providing high-quality care to Medicare Advantage patients by the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA), a statewide nonprofit group committed to high-value, integrated care that improves quality and affordability for patients across California and the nation.
“This five-star rating from the Integrated HealthCare Association recognizes our deep commitment to performance measurement and quality improvement,” said Larry Friedman, MD, associate dean of clinical affairs, UC San Diego Health. “We are proud to be recognized for the high-quality care we provide to our Medicare Advantage patients.”
Building on the Medicare Advantage (MA) star rating system for health plans, IHA uses a subset of 12 clinical quality measures to collect performance data and assign star ratings to 181 physician organizations based on how well they provided recommended care in 2016 to more than 2 million California seniors and people with disabilities enrolled in MA health maintenance organizations (HMOs).
“California physicians are leaders in making health care more transparent through their voluntary participation in Medicare Advantage star quality ratings,” said IHA president and CEO Jeffrey Rideout, MD. “We applaud their hard work and commitment to improving the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries.”
Clinical quality measures used to calculate the star ratings range from rates of breast and colorectal cancer screenings to eye exams and blood sugar control for patients with diabetes to managing osteoporosis in women with a previous fracture. Collecting these measures at the physician organization level allows IHA to combine data from the six participating health plans to identify performance variations that can help plans and POs target quality improvement efforts.
Each year, IHA recognizes physician organizations that achieve a 4.5- or 5-star rating. UC San Diego Health attained a five star rating for 2017-18, which reflects care provided to Medicare Advantage patients in 2016. The 5-star designation is the highest level of Medicare Advantage Stars quality achievement and recognizes exceptional levels of quality. Only ten of 181 participating physician organizations achieved this performance level in measurement year 2016.
An IHA fact sheet has more information on the Medicare Advantage 5-Star Rating System for California Physician Organizations.
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