Bridges to Excellence is a joint effort among employers, physicians, health plans, and the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA).  Under Bridges to Excellence, physicians earn rewards by demonstrating they have implemented comprehensive solutions in the management of patients and deliver safe, timely, effective, efficient, equitable and patient-centered care through accreditation in NCQA’s Physician Recognition Programs.  Bridges to Excellence has three individual focuses: Diabetes Care Link, Cardiac Care Link and Physician Office Link, all of which are linked to specific NCQA recognition programs.  In this model, physicians who become accredited by NCQA are eligible to receive incentives paid by employers. 

In late 2005, members of EHPCO worked on a plan that would allow both employers and physicians to work together to implement the Bridges to Excellence Diabetes Care Link program in Northeast Ohio.  In Ohio alone, EHPCO members provide benefits for more than 6,000 patients with diabetes, providing an opportunity for a beneficial program to both employers and providers alike.

Unlike other programs that simply shift dollars from one physician to the next, Bridges to Excellence incentives are “new dollars” to the payment system. To become qualified for incentive payments, physicians need to become accredited through the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s Diabetes Physician Recognition Program (DPRP), a set of metrics adopted by both NCQA and the American Diabetes Association.  To encourage participation on the part of providers, EHPCO will pay directly to NCQA the physician’s application costs and have hired a Pharmacist (Pharm.D.) as a staffing resource while reviewing charts and submitting information to NCQA. 

For providers who become accredited, EHPCO will pay out $100 per patient with diabetes who is an employee of an EHPCO member company.  Unlike other markets where individual employers or health plans fund these incentives, EHPCO funds all incentives from its yearly operating budget, thereby eliminating the need for its members to secure additional funding for the program. 

Today, EHPCO has accredited 19 physicians and paid out nearly $110,000 in physician incentives and application fees.