Clinician and Practice Recognition
At Bridges to Excellence (BTE), we want all top-performing clinicians and practices
Our programs measure the quality of care delivery, with an emphasis on managing patients with chronic conditions. To earn Recognition, physicians, nurse practitioners and physician assistants must meet certain outcome and process benchmarks. Those who do can earn a range of incentives which often include substantial cash payouts.
Step 1: Decide which programs to participate in
We sponsor programs for conditions like asthma, cardiac care, diabetes, and more. Your eligibility is based, in part, on how many patients you treat with that condition. In addition, you should check to see whether your contracting health plans offer incentives for particular programs; many plans use our programs in their internal pay-for-performance initiatives.
The chronic condition recognition programs require you to have at least 25 patients with the condition in order for you to be able to supply enough data to be scored for recognition. Practices may also apply for recognition when a physician has less than 25 patients with the condition. In this case, clinicians taking part in the recognition may have as few as 10 patients with the condition, provided the average number of patients per physician is still 25.
Step 2: Determine which performance assessment pathway is best for you.
BTE Recognition is based on clinical data from your records, which you will submit to a performance assessment organization (PAO) for scoring. We have partnerships with many leading PAOs, including NCQA, and CECity’s Medconcert platform.
Depending on the BTE program(s) you would like to become recognized for, you may have several pathways available. For example, you can earn BTE Recognition in diabetes through any of the following:
- NCQA’s Diabetes Recognition Program. Contact them at www.ncqa.org to begin the process for assessment. If you qualify for recognition in the NCQA diabetes program, you will be recognized in the BTE diabetes program at the corresponding level.
- The Bridges to Excellence App on CECity’s Medconcert platform, through direct data submission. Go to bte.medconcert.com and follow the steps to register, apply as a single physician or practice, and submit clinical data. Once you download the template file, you will have 90 days to upload your clinical data.
- The automated EMR/Registry System we have established—your most efficient and least costly option. With this system, you must have EMR data or electronic data in a patient registry. We are currently working with the following registries and vendors:
As an example, here are your data submission options for the Diabetes program:
Step 3: Apply for recognition
Depending on the pathway you’ve chosen, how you apply for recognition varies. See the Performance Assessment page for application information.