Compare and Contrast

[Wall Street Journal, October 28, 2009] Every month, doctors from the 14 clinics of HealthEast Care System around St. Paul get together to talk about their work. They focus on specific measures for each physician's patient group, such as blood-sugar and cholesterol numbers for people with diabetes. Then the doctors ask themselves how they—and their patients—can do better. But something far more traditional is also driving these discussions: an annual public report card that tells patients, insurers and fellow physicians exactly how Minnesota clinics are doing. Bruce McCarthy, MD, chief medical officer of Allina Medical Clinics, said the MN Community Measurement has done a good job of listening to physicians' concerns. Read the article on the WSJ website.