Should The Medicine Scorecard Be Made Public Or Not?

Doctors before were all confident that they were doing well in their profession. If a patient has successfully recovered or has improved condition, the credit generally goes to the physician. However, when the treatment fails, the blame usually goes to the patient. Often times, the family members will hear comments like “the patient did not respond very well to the medicine”. This scenario however has already been reversed since the introduction of medicine scorecard.More popularly known as the scorecard, this type of performance management system being applied to doctors and clinics have radically changed the way people look at health care. Before, the success of a treatment, monitoring or screening depends on how the patient reacts to the medication. Today, however, with the advent of the scoring system that enables doctors to track their performance, patients now have a choice.Think of the scorecard as the ratings book for TV networks. Most television stations base the advertising rate of a specific timeslot according to the actual number or audience watching the show. The higher the ratings, the more costly the air time will become. This is also the case with the scorecard. Before, surgeons did not know they actually failed in an operation until scorecards were put in practice. With the system implemented right now, doctors can now charge premium rates for their services. But then of course, as the rates go up, so shall the quality of care.When the system was set up, most physicians were not hesitant to embrace it. In fact, for doctors it was a way for them to improve themselves. The fact that there is an increase in service rates with higher scores is only a bonus for the physicians. The real deal is on how they can reverse low scores. This prompted the idea of sharing scorecard data. And this very same idea also gave birth to the publication of scores.The release of scorecard reports was not made, however, until recently. In Seattle, there is a group of physicians who instigated the publication of their scores for the benefit of patients. This was made after an alarming number of diabetes patients who can not comply with the ideal level of blood pressure rose. While it is true that the patient’s behavioral attitude toward a treatment affects his rate of recovery or improvement, confidence towards a doctor contributes a large of portion of care success. Low scoring doctors were obliged to update and upgrade themselves. As a result, the competitiveness of the physicians in Seattle increased. Today, 87 percent of diabetics in the Puget Sound area can now control their blood sugar levels.Inspite of this good news, it is alarming to know that there are still some practitioners who do not agree to the idea of making scores public. As a matter of fact, there are scorecard users who refuse to be involved in high risk treatments or operations just so their records will not dip. The most upsetting fact is that there are some doctors who are manipulating their scores to increase their value.The answer to the question whether the medicine scorecard should be made public or not actually lies in the hands of the doctors. They have a complete understanding of their profession and therefore they know the difference between what is right and wrong. For patients, it a must then to look for scoreboard results.