This audio-conference will provide an overview of The Patient Charter and the health plan, physician, and purchaser perspectives on its impact on quality, transparency, and valid measurement and reporting of physician performance.

The Patient Charter provides the groundwork for full public disclosure of performance results and reliable information to evaluate quality and performance. When combined with payment reform, this public reporting can lead to improvements in both quality and affordability.

The Consumer-Purchaser Disclosure Project, led by a collaborative of consumer, labor, and purchaser organizations, developed the Patient Charter to improve the validity and methodology of physician reporting programs aimed at consumers and separately developed by health plans or insurers.

The charter was completed after the recent November 2007 settlement in New York, in which four major health plans agreed to restructure their physician measurement and reporting systems, correct underlying problems with methodology, and to allow independent auditors.

Criteria for physician performance measurements and reporting specified in The Patient Charter include: (1) meaningful measures that reflect patient-centered care and areas of importance to consumers, (2) physicians and physician group input on methodology, measures, and reporting, (3) transparency of measures and methodology that brings audited public reporting of reliable and comparative information to the consumer and clinicians alike, (4) standardized, national measures based on science and endorsed by the National Quality Forum (as available).

Aetna, CIGNA, United Healthcare and WellPoint have endorsed the charter. The Patient Charter has also been endorsed by the AARP, the Leapfrog Group, the AFL-CIO, the National Business Coalition on Health, and the Pacific Business Group on Health.