November 07, 2011
Santa Cruz Sentinel
Physicians Medical Group has been awarded $475,000 from Blue Shield of California to bolster efforts to track patient care.
It's one of 18 grants totaling nearly $20 million Blue Shield awarded to California hospitals, health systems, clinics and physicians to help them participate more effectively in "accountable care organizations," a payment model expected to become more common under federal health care reform.
"Blue Shield will be working closely with PMG and Dominican Hospital, providing metrics and reporting to track the effectiveness of the clinical initiatives which are designed to improve quality and cost effectiveness." said Dr. Nancy Greenstreet, medical director of Physicians Medical Group.
The initiative will require two new positions, a program manager and a care transition manager, coordinating care provided by Dominican Hospital's staff, hospitalists and Physicians Medical Group's more than 400 providers during and after inpatient or emergency department care.
Part of the funding will be used to expand Santa Cruz Health Information Exchange, an electronic network used by doctors, hospitals, labs and clinics in the county.
The goal is to give physicians more information at the point of care and eliminate data redundancy according to Dr. Satish Chandra, board president of Physicians Medical Group, lead organization of the network.
More than 1 million web transactions occur each month as well as thousands of electronic prescriptions and refill requests, pre-treatment authorizations, referrals and transcribed documents.