Report cards issued for clinics

WILLMAR -- Physician clinics in Minnesota showed improvement this past year on quality-care indicators ranging from diabetes management to children's immunizations, according to the newest data from Minnesota Community Measurement.

Statistics for 2005 were released Wednesday.

The numbers are collected from more than 100 medical organizations across the state, where about 90 percent of Minnesotans receive their primary care.

"For several of the chronic care measures, we're continuing to see improvement," said Jim Chase, executive director of Minnesota Community Measurement. "We're seeing good news."

Optimal diabetes care, for instance, increased from 6 percent to 9 percent of patients. High blood pressure was being controlled in 68 percent of patients who have this condition.

There also were "significantly better results" on the management of medication for asthma, Chase said.

The report was issued Tuesday to participating medical clinics so physicians can start analyzing the numbers and see how they fared.

In all, the report looks at more than two dozen indicators. This is the third year the results have been made public. A final version will appear on the Minnesota Community Measurement Web site in mid-November.

If a clinic's performance has lagged since last year, it's an opportunity to examine why, Chase said.

"Now they have to dig in," he said. "They have to ask, where are patients not getting the components they had last year?"

Gary McDowell, administrator at Family Practice Medical Center of Willmar, said the report helps the clinic gain a better picture of how it stacks up against other medical groups.

"What's valuable is the ability for us to have at least some type of comparison," he said. "All in all, it's a tool that we can all use to try and improve."

It also gives clinics a chance to learn from each other, he said.

"You're able to pick up the telephone and say, 'Hey, what are you doing that's different from us?' The whole idea is best practices," he said.

Local providers scored above average on some of the measures, primarily screening for breast and cervical cancer and management of asthma medication.

Officials at Affiliated Community Medical Centers were startled, however, at their numbers for diabetes management. Affiliated had one of the best percentages in the state last year for how well it manages patients with diabetes; this year its performance fell dramatically.

Clinic officials have sent a letter to Minnesota Community Measurement, questioning the accuracy of the numbers.

"That's a pretty marked disparity," said Dr. Burnell Mellema, medical director for care improvement.

In its own chart audits, the clinic found little difference between this year and last year in how diabetes is managed, he said.

"We used the same methodology as last year," he said. "This is an absolute surprise. If the figures aren't quite right, then we have an issue. We're open to looking at it at any level. Obviously the jury is still out but hopefully we'll know more in the next few days."

It underscores the need to interpret raw numbers with some caution, he said.

"More importantly, we're still in a learning curve with reporting," he said. "We need to have numbers that are reliable and reproducible."