System Assesses Performance of Colonoscopy
The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy and the American College of Gastroenterology have partnered together to develop a new program that assesses how well clinicians perform colonoscopy. One of the goals of the project is to improve care quality by providing clinicians with performance feedback. The program was described in the Wall Street Journal.
To date, 23 medical practices across the country have commenced using the program. A software system collects data during the procedure, including technique employed. Some of the additional datapoints collected during colonoscopy include the extent of colon examined, how many polyps were identified, and the time required to withdraw the endoscope from the colon. Some existing data suggests that colonoscopies of longer duration have higher rates of polyp detection.
Data collected is submitted to Sentara Healthcare. That health system has been compiling data collected through the collaborative; which includes more than 4,800 colonoscopies thus far. It is anticipated that growth of the effort will require oversight of data collection and management by an independent company.
An additional benefit for clinicians who choose to participate in the program is the opportunity to compare results with other clinicians. The project was initiated in response to increased pay for performance programming from health insurance companies that pair reimbursement levels with physician performance.
One particular benefit of this effort with respect to P4P programs is the creation of a broad database that includes critical characteristics describing a broad array of patients. Availability of this sort of database will allow investigation of the implications of various co-morbid conditions or sicker patients on outcomes. Moreover, it will help identify both patterns and benchmarks associated with quality from a practical and clinically sound standpoint.
The new computer program also evaluates performance of other common medical procedures; data collection for additional procedures has yet to be rolled out. Three additional procedures will be added in the future: endoscopic ultrasound, ERCP, and upper endoscopy. Plans also include expansion of the program across the United States.
April 16, 2008 Related topics: Standards, Partnerships & Consortia, Quality, Safety, Errors, Gastroenterology