ERRORS DELAY BLUECROSS' RELEASE OF DOCTOR DATA

THE TENNESSEAN
Mar 11, 2008

BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has put on hold plans to share quality of care and cost data about individual doctors with its members after doctors questioned the accuracy of the information. DR. LARRY VAN HORN, faculty director for the health care MBA program at Vanderbilt University's graduate business school, said that there's more demand for information to compare doctors as consumers are given more responsibility for managing their health care. There's a debate about the legitimate source of information that should be used, though. "Claims data is an important source of information, but doesn't provide a complete picture of patient severity," Van Horn said.