In one of the first attempts to compile a health care report card on physician groups, a California employers' organization recently published a report that used patient surveys and data on preventive care to compare doctors.
The study's sponsor, the Pacific Business Group on Health, hopes that employers and consumers will use the information to help select doctors during open-enrollment periods for health plans.
The study, which involved physician groups in California, Oregon and Washington state, surveyed 27 medical groups in Southern California. The average overall satisfaction was 78%. Consumers, or patients, gave the groups an overall score of 64 on scale of 100 for quality of care, 59 for the ease of getting care and specialist referrals, and 62 for doctors' communication skills.
The study also included information about how well doctors kept high blood pressure and cholesterol under control.
The data were based on the responses to survey questions of 58,000 members of HMOs.
In a portion of the study that assessed patients' satisfaction with their doctor and their willingness to recommend the doctor to family friends, Southern California doctors were rated lower than all other groups.
Physician groups participation in the study was voluntary, so not all Southern California groups were included. Also, the study involved only larger medical groups, so individual doctors' offices or small group practices are not included.
Consumer Experiences with Physician Groups
1996 Performance--Southern California
Overall Rating Based on Consumer Responses
Mean score based on 100-point scale
*--*
Physician Overall Quality Ease of Group Satisfaction of Getting Care Care & Referrals AVERAGE Southern California 78 64 59 Adventist Health Medical Foundation 76 60 53 Affiliated Private Practice Assn. 77 65 61 All Care Medical Group 71 53 53 Beaver Medical Group 84 70 62 Bristol Park Medical Group 79 64 59 Cedars-Sinai Medical Group 80 67 59 Clinician's Central Medical Group 74 60 61 Community Medical Group 76 62 60 Facey Medical Foundation 80 65 59 FPA Medical Management 76 65 61 Friendly Hills Healthcare Network 78 61 59 Greater Valley Medical Group 77 63 56 HealthCare Partners Medical Group 74 57 53 HealthCare Partners IPA Network 73 59 55 Huntington Provider Group 80 65 60 Kaiser--S. Calif. Permanente Med. Group 80 66 59 Monarch Healthcare 76 65 60 MedPartners/Mullikin Medical Group 75 61 55 Pacific IPA 74 58 56 Prime Care Medical Network/Desert Valley Medical Group 79 68 64 Scripps Clinic & Research Found. 82 69 62 Sharp Community Medical Group 82 70 65 Sharp Mission Park Medical Group 81 69 64 Sharp-Rees Stealy Medical Group 81 65 62 St. Joseph's Medical Group 76 61 58 Torrance Hospital IPA 73 61 60 Yorba Park Medical Group 79 66 62
