BGPMA Earns Recognition for Enhanced Patient Care

Thirty-five medical practices in Eastern Massachusetts will split $800,000 under a novel program that rewards doctors for improving care, the nonprofit group Bridges to Excellence announced the first week of December 2004. The money, which went to doctors’ offices that upgraded patient record-keeping and prescription monitoring over the last year, is the largest payout yet from the national initiative, launched by major employers last year.

The companies behind Bridges to Excellence, including General Electric and Ford, hope that the will ultimately benefit from their largesse. “ It’s inevitable that some of our employees are going to get sick, but what happens next is up to us,” explained Jeffrey Hanson, regional healthcare manager for Verizon, a member of Bridges to Excellence. “By paying doctors to invest in better practice systems, we can ensure that our employees and their families get the best possible care”.

The bonus will be split among more than 400 doctors in the 35 award-winning practices, which include 14 offices of the Burlington based Lahey Clinic. The clinic’s chief operating officer, Dr. Sanford R. Kurtz, said receiving the bonus gave the hospital incentive to invest in electronic record-keeping systems that Lahey needed anyway.

Among the other bonus winners were 17 practices with the Partners HealthCare System, which includes Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s. In addition, four practices within Bridgewater Goddard Park Medical Associates received a bonus for informational technology improvements.

Extracted from the Boston Globe, December 7, 2004

Article written by Scott Allen, “Doctors receive bonus for better care”

   
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