From the November 2017 issue of HealthCare Business News magazine
Conversely, Little Rock, Ark., has a population of 130,000 adult residents — approximately one-eighth the adult population density of Boston. The uninsured rate for the state of Arkansas is more than twice that of Massachusetts. The absence of premier teaching hospitals and medical schools likely contributes to a scarcity of high-quality physicians.
Such disparities are both dangerous and costly. The lack of access that employees and their families have to quality physicians can result in higher complication, readmission and mortality rates. For example, a 2005 study conducted by the American Cancer Society looked at prostate cancer patients across a wide geographic area. The conclusion: The location of the patient has a 10 percent to 30 percent impact on mortality, and the study authors suggested a correlation between the results and access to medical care. Likewise, a 2012 study conducted by researchers at the University of California-Davis links lower mortality rates to greater access to high-quality health care.
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Significant Risks
For benefits leaders with highly dispersed workforces in remote areas, the costs associated with low-quality physician care can go unnoticed when reviewing the company’s total health care trend. Most benefits teams don’t have the time or resources to investigate each physician, particularly when employees are visiting lesser-known and sometimes less-experienced medical providers. Yet, understanding the cost impact of low physician quality is a critical component to controlling health care costs. With 35 percent of total health care costs under the immediate influence of physicians, the risks that substandard care can bring to employees and their families are significant.
Patients who receive treatment from lower-quality physicians will increase systemwide medical expenses because of higher complication rates, and use of unnecessary tests and prescriptions, which contributes to the $300 billion U.S. employers waste on health care annually.
About the author: Sohini Stone, M.D., is the medical director of quality and continuous improvement at Grand Rounds.Back to HCB News
