Physician Measurement
Our Stance
AAFP believes that transparency in health care costs and quality information to physicians, patients, and employers is important and supports such efforts, provided that the data aggregation and analysis is consistent with AAFP policy. Read the AAFP Guiding Principles on Physician Profiling.
AAFP Advocacy Activities
- AAFP calls on health plans to align their physician measurement and reporting activities with AAFP policy in its letter sent to over 50 health plans in June 2009. Read the letter (2-page PDF file; About PDFs).
- AAFP continues to press health plans for transparency, use of valid data, sharing of actionable data, reasonable periods of time for report validation and reconsideration processes, and attention to family medicine practices' capacities for additional patients.
- AAFP endorses the Patient Charter for Physician Performance Measurement, Reporting and Tiering Programs that was launched under the auspices of the Consumer-Purchaser Disclosure Project. Read more in AAFP News Now (April 2, 2008).
Make Your Voice Heard
- Do you feel a payer has questioned your coding, or otherwise unfairly profiled you? Download this template letter (2-page Word document; About Downloading), fill in the appropriate information, and send to the payer as a response.
- We want to hear about your experiences. Submit a health plan grievance or view grievances submitted by other members (Members Only).
- Are you contracted with UnitedHealthcare and disagree with the accuracy of the data in the UnitedHealth Premium designation program? File a reconsideration request (2-page PDF; About PDFs).
AAFP Resources
- Read the AAFP Members' Guide to Physician Assessment Programs
- Access the AAFP How to Challenge Payers’ Family Physician Measurement and Reporting Programs checklist (1-page Members Only PDF; About PDFs).
OTHER RESOURCES
- The Measurement of Health Care Performance (20-page PDF file; About PDFs): A Primer from the Council of Medical Specialty Societies, November 2007.
What We're Working On
Physician Measurement
