California group unveils new quality award

Practices could use the designation in marketing; others caution that this "gold star" system needs to be fair.

By Mike Norbut, AMNews staff. April 10, 2006.

In an effort to raise the profile of the organization and its members, the California Assn. of Physician Groups plans to implement a "gold star" system to recognize doctors' quality care.

The program will not provide the same financial motivation as the Integrated Healthcare Assn.'s "Pay for Performance" initiative in the state but could be another marketing tool for groups looking to differentiate themselves from their competition.

"They're going to be able to say to their patients or purchasers, 'Look, we have the CAPG gold star because we deliver a high level of quality,' " said Donald Crane, CAPG's president and CEO. "Purchasers will say they want a gold star group in their network. Individual employees will say they want to go to a gold star group."

The "gold star" will be an award of distinction for groups that satisfy a variety of criteria, including existing IHA metrics, Crane said. Groups that qualify also will exhibit several "programmatic attributes," such as using hospitalists and case managers for high-risk cases, he said. The full list of criteria is being developed, Crane said.

The association, which represents more than 150 large physician groups largely involved in capitated managed care contracts, will rely on members to self-report results rather than run a full-time accreditation program, Crane said.