Regional variations in clinical performance persist across California, but adoption of health information technology appears to help bridge the divide, according to new annual
statewide physician pay-for-performance results.
Practices in the San Francisco Bay Area and Sacramento performed better overall in 2008 than the statewide average for clinical quality, patient experience, IT adoption and coordinated diabetes care, while Los Angeles lagged behind.
The report was conducted by the Integrated Healthcare Association, a not-for-profit based in Oakland, Calif. The IHA pay-for-performance program includes eight health plans and more than 225 medical groups with 35,000 physicians caring for 10.5 million HMO members.
Clinical quality improves with the adoption of health IT and its use in care management, according to the report. Physician groups that adopt health IT performed better than those that did not, regardless of geographic location.
Overall, physicians statewide improved in six out of seven clinical quality measures, including diabetes care and colorectal cancer screening. Performance in appropriate treatment for children with upper respiratory infections showed a small decline of 0.4%, according to the report.
