The authors point out that while blood pressure should be less than 140/90, LDL cholesterol less than 100 in persons with a history of heart attack and A1c should be less than 7% in persons with diabetes, it's clear that the cure can be more costly than the disease.
For many individuals with mild elevations in blood pressure, diet and exercise can be enough and, if that doesn't work, cheap water pills often work great. Among persons with elevated cholesterol levels, inexpensive statin prescriptions can save lives. Metformin for diabetes has been around for decades and it a first line agent no matter what the A1c is.
As a result, they call for measuring and rewarding quality based on accountable prescribing that not only measures the numbers (blood pressure, blood cholesterol or diabetes control), but the percent of individuals receiving conservative or first line treatments. While this approach would require an even more detailed databases/registries, it's within reach of most commercial insurers and advanced electronic record systems. We owe it to our patients to provide a tailored, bottom-up, nuanced and Ver. 2. approach to measuring health care quality.
It's also a concept that the population health and care management service providers could, with the right kind of clinical partners, lead. This calls for a pilot program and, in the DMCB's humble opinion, the sooner, the better.
For a better idea of how this might work, check out this table.
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New England Journal of Medicine »
Care Management Service Providers and the Potential of Accountable Prescribing
