Bringing clinical accuracy to provider profiling systems

Traditional provider profiling systems have difficulty accounting for the wide-ranging differences between patients, their conditions, and the physicians' practices. However, new technologies and methodologies that can extract the needed information from existing data sources offer a means of accurately and efficiently comparing the performance of providers, specialties, networks, and other elements of managed care organizations. Profiling can strengthen the bonds of trust between the providers and the managed care organization, making them partners in delivering quality care.