The state of Minnesota's Provider Peer Grouping Project is an effort to compare the cost and quality of care provided by clinics and hospitals. The Minnesota Department of Health initiative is initially focusing on total cost of care as well as care for these six conditions: diabetes, coronary artery disease, pneumonia, asthma, congestive heart failure, and total knee replacement.
The MMA is generally supportive of the project and has provided expertise to shape its implementation. In 2010 the MMA initiated and helped pass legislation to modify the peer grouping program to ensure the use of valid and reliable data and to adopt a more reasonable timeline.
Providers originally were told they would receive their results in June of 2010; however, the program has suffered significant delays and the first reports are now scheduled for the summer and fall of 2011. Click here for a list of peer grouping activities.
The MMA serves on a MDH Peer Grouping Rapid Response Team that focuses on key methodological issues related to provider peer grouping such as patient attribution to providers, physician attribution to clinic sites, resource use and price combination, composite cost and quality measure construction, weighting of individual quality measures, and treatment of outlier costs.
MMA and MMIC Peer Grouping Webinars
The MMA and MMIC teamed up in 2010 to help practices navigate Minnesota's new peer grouping territory.
Provider Peer Grouping Overview (August 2010)
Total Care Reporting (September 2010)
The Latest Science on Quality and Cost Reporting (October 2010)