Payment Problems, Malpractice Suits Top Concerns of Quality Pros

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Christel Henke
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chenke@hansondodge.com

ASQ Healthcare Experts Share Reform Advice

Milwaukee, Wis., December 8, 2009 — While Congress debates the best options for reform, a new poll of U.S. healthcare quality improvement experts shows that solving payment problems and restructuring malpractice suits/tort reform top the list of areas that would help to eliminate waste. Recent studies estimate U.S. healthcare system waste at $600–$800 billion annually.

The online poll was conducted with 120 healthcare quality professionals who are members of ASQ (The American Society for Quality), www.asq.org. These quality experts work in a diverse range of healthcare organizations from hospitals to public health departments. While quality improvement methods have proven successful in manufacturing environments, these management methods have recently been applied in healthcare, as well. For example, Lean is a tool which emphasizes removal of waste from healthcare organizations and processes and focuses on delivering more value to patients.

According to the ASQ poll, healthcare quality experts believe payment systems (e.g. billing, coding and insurance claims) would be one of their first target areas. They say addressing those issues is critical in order to reduce the massive overload of billing and insurance paperwork that is causing added expense as well as frustration and delays for patients and doctors. In addition, the limited information-sharing that currently exists in the healthcare system creates re-work and serious errors in some cases.

This issue was closely followed by the need to establish tort reform and limit liability claims against physicians in order to decrease the cost of liability insurance paid by physicians which is generally one of their greatest costs of operation.

"For years, the healthcare sector has ignored some of the key factors leading to waste," said Peter Andres, ASQ president. "Healthcare legislation must start ensuring incentives and requirements for sustained use of waste reduction tools and continuous process improvement."

Possible waste-reducing solutions suggested provided by the group include:

• Mandate a universal system of electronic healthcare recordkeeping with bar-coding to provide real-time, nationwide access to patient records. Everyone involved in an individual’s healthcare would see the same information, at the same time, anywhere in the country.
• Implement the criteria of both Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award and ISO 9001 in all provider organizations.
• Create a free-market competition for insurance (inter-state.)
• Make preventive care/annual medical check-ups standardized, readily and affordably available without hassle; with their computerized documentation a mandatory top priority. Waste reduced by ensuring timely medical interventions.

ASQ, (The American Society for Quality) www.asq.org, has been the world’s leading authority on quality for more than 60 years. With more than 85,000 individual and organizational members, the professional association advances learning, quality improvement and knowledge exchange to improve business results and to create better workplaces and communities worldwide. As a champion of the quality movement, ASQ offers technologies, concepts, tools and training to quality professionals, quality practitioners and everyday consumers. ASQ has been the sole administrator of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award since 1991. Headquartered in Milwaukee, Wis., ASQ is a founding sponsor of the American Customer Satisfaction Index (ACSI), a prominent quarterly economic indicator, and also produces the Quarterly Quality Report.