Meaningful Patient Feedback, Finally!

Research sponsored by the ABFM finds that patients and physicians do not find typical patient surveys very useful or satisfying. Most of the tools currently used don’t focus on the quality of the caring, as much as they do on ease of parking. The ABFM and ABFM Foundation have long believed that we could serve the patient and the physician better. We’re inviting you to try out a new Trust measure, and the Person-Centered Primary Care Measure.

I am grateful to my practice for allowing me to see patients there for more than 20 years. I am only part time, but I’ve had the privilege of caring for many of the nearly 400 patients on my panel for more than a decade. The impact of the pandemic led my practice to join a large health system where I struggle to make sense of how they ask patients for feedback and present that to me. I don’t pay much attention to how many stars I have, but I read their comments with great interest. Even these, while often heartfelt, don’t give me a broader sense of whether they trust me or value the care I provide.

I also struggle with the focus on disease-based clinical quality measures. While they have value, I know that trusted relationships also have therapeutic benefit. The trust that allows a patient to tell you that they were abused, are drinking heavily, or are suffering from loneliness is knowledge bought dearly. It is often the source of their symptoms and the place from which they can start healing. Long term relationships also help me know when something has changed and needs attention. Knowing who your patient is, and their trust and confidence in your concern for their well-being as a person is often the key to helping improve their health. Value-based payment has emphasized disease-based measures over relationships. But what if that changed? What if you were scored on how well your patients feel you know them and care about them? What if positive relationship was valued in payment models?

Well, now it is. Since the ABFM Foundation and the Center for Professionalism & Value in Health Care launched the Measures That Matter to Primary Care initiative, the Person Centered Primary Care (PCPCM) measure is both available for use for the Merit-Based Incentive Payment Program (MIPS), MIPS Value Pathways, and the newest state-limited demonstration model, Making Care Primary. The PCPCM has been available for use in the PRIME Registry, and can now be used in your practice without enrolling in the PRIME Registry.