Bridges to Excellence Announces Five New Physician Recognition Programs With Potential...

Bridges to Excellence Announces Five New Physician Recognition Programs With
Potential to Save Billions of Health Care Dollars

Doctors can now use new program measures and work with EMR vendors to provide
high levels of quality care for asthma, COPD and heart conditions

NEWTOWN, Conn., June 24 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Bridges to Excellence
(BTE), the nation's most extensive effort to recognize and reward
high-performing physicians, announced five new programs to assess the
improvement in the diagnosis, treatment and management of chronic conditions
such as asthma, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary
disease (COPD), coronary artery disease and hypertension. The new programs
cover the majority of the health care costs in the system today and the bulk
of patients providers are seeing.

"Our work has shown that there are significant avoidable costs associated with
the management of these conditions," said Francois de Brantes, BTE CEO. "By
reducing preventable complications incurred by most patients with these
chronic conditions, we could significantly improve the health of employees and
save employers billions of dollars."

The BTE programs are designed to provide incentives that reward physicians and
practices for adopting better systems of care that result in physician
practice reengineering, the adoption of health information technology and
delivering good outcomes to patients. Doctors who demonstrate excellent
performance can earn recognition and also qualify for incentives from
participating employers and health plans.

New Care Link Programs:
-- Asthma Care Link
-- Congestive Heart Failure Care Link
-- COPD Care Link
-- Coronary Artery Disease Care Link
-- Hypertension Care Link

"Our emphasis to-date has been on encouraging the adoption of systems of care
-- including EMRs (Electronic Medical Records) -- as well as demonstrating the
use of those systems in delivering good results in patient management," said
de Brantes. "It's time to switch the emphasis almost exclusively on the
results of patient management and these new programs, combined with our
existing focus in diabetes, ischemic vascular disease, back pain and
depression, provide employers and their health plans with a complete portfolio
to power up pay for performance efforts."

New data portal through IPRO
BTE also announced today that it will utilize IPRO's Clinical Data Portal to
accept chart data directly or via an electronic medical record system and
score data against clinical measures. The portal will provide secure access to
results, allow users to review and track performance and participate in
incentive programs.

IPRO, one of the nation's largest independent, not-for-profit health care
consulting organizations, is responsible for evaluating the performance of
physicians and practices in BTE regions and recognizing those who demonstrate
they provide high quality care in their communities. BTE's Automated
Performance Assessment System was launched late last year to reduce the
financial and process burdens of physician quality assessment. BTE's third
party performance assessment organizations also include NCQA and Minnesota
Community Measurement.

For more information on Bridges to Excellence or to find out how to
participate as an employer or a physician, visit www.bridgestoexcellence.org.

About Bridges to Excellence
Bridges to Excellence (BTE) is a non-profit coalition-based organization
created to encourage significant leaps in the quality of care by recognizing
and rewarding health care providers who demonstrate that they deliver safe,
timely, effective, and patient-centered care. BTE works with large employers,
health plans, providers and a wide range of organizations that have a shared
goal of improving quality and patient outcomes. www.bridgestoexcellence.org.

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click
appropriate link.
Francois de Brantes
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=75398

SOURCE Bridges to Excellence

Cary Conway, +1-972-731-9242, cary@conwaycommunication.com, for Bridges to
Excellence