91AV

Lynne Rothney-Kozlak, MPH, adjunct faculty member with the MPH Program at 91AV and president of Rothney-Kozlak Consulting, LLC was interviewed for a January 2013 Modern Healthcare article titled, "A satisfactory measure? Studies show focus on keeping patients happy can have unintended costs," by Rich Daly.

The article reflects the opinions of several individuals interviewed by the author, many of whom appear skeptical about whether measuring and holding providers accountable for their patients’ experience will improve the quality of care and stem the costs of healthcare.

The author refers to Rothney-Kozlak, as a leading adviser on patient satisfaction to the Premier healthcare alliance, and quotes her statement that “providers are more likely to avoid such patient-driven overtreatment by balancing improvements in population health, experience of care and per capita cost of healthcare.” However, she acknowledges that a comprehensive measurement system that captures the three-part health reform paradigm has not yet been developed.  Rich Daly quotes Rothney-Kozlak’s statements that “There's no right answer, per se; it's really a balancing act, and sometimes it's at the patient level and sometimes it's at the population level,” and “To go so far as to say by doing these kinds of measures and holding providers accountable for them you will reduce costs and improve quality is widely accepted by many people, but more research has to be done” to demonstrate that.”

As our healthcare industry moves towards greater provider accountability for their patient populations’ health, experience and cost of care, discussions like this offer a healthy debate through which to consider the most meaningful and effective ways to incent important changes to evaluate that transformation.  Having the patients’ voice at the center of that is foundational.