[editor: We think this is a better title for Kaiser’s latest Thrive theme song]
Kaiser Cheated to Get High “Quality” Marks
Over the last couple of days Kaiser has put out a series of press releases to show off its high “Quality” scores from the Office of the Patient Advocate. People should be made aware that such results are carefully manipulated. Kaiser physicians are given bonuses for engaging in activities that will achieve high marks according to the criteria set by Quality tests: Bonus Deal.
These bonuses are the equivalent of a high school “teaching to the test” for the SATs. When high schools teach to the test, students learn how to do well on the SATs, and nothing else. When HMOs teach to the test, physicians focus on meeting the test criteria (developed from general concepts) rather than the specific needs of the patient. Diagnosing a patient with breast cancer might get the physician a bonus: but why bother performing the tests for Lyme Disease if there’s no bonus involved?
Furthermore, the HMOs decide the criteria of these Quality tests for themselves via a consortium (NCQA). The State of California is now in the process of handing over their annual HMO surveys to NCQA – so the HMOs will be overseeing their own claims to quality!
http://releases.usnewswire.com/GetRelease.asp?id=49028
How corrupt can you get?