The experience with COVID-19 has shown that, in many places, quality has become progressively less important while cost-containment has become increasingly more important, frequently with unfortunate results for patients. Even the federal government has defined cost-containment as a quality measure for medical care and tied physician reimbursement to these measures. How this helps individual patients is unclear, but most patients tend to be reluctant to trade cost-containment for quality, especially when the benefits of cost-containment go to some nebulous entity like the healthcare system rather than directly to them. Patients want to know whether their physicians can provide true quality of care.
In recent issues of Miami Medicine, the official journal of the Dade County Medical Association, we’ve been discussing problems with the various quality designations promoted by a wide range of organizations. We stressed the importance of using criteria that are a valid reflection of physician quality. Equally as important, we noted the value of using criteria that other physicians who are directly involved in patient care consider useful.
In the Spring 2020 issue, we announced the first five physicians to merit a Quality Designation. The quality criteria reviewed included educational background, board certification or eligibility, leadership positions held, publications and lectures, honors and awards received, and community service. The Quality Designation recognizes a physician’s status among his or her peers that can also be used by patients as a reliable guide to finding quality healthcare. The honor is awarded by the Editor-in-Chief of Miami Medicine.
The five physicians named in the Spring issue cover a broad range of specialties including primary care, surgery, and obstetrics and gynecology. Each physician chosen has demonstrated a long-term commitment to education, patient care, and service to the community. You can read their complete bios in Miami Medicine at miamimed.com/journal. In future issues, we will announce additional physicians who merit a Quality Designation.
Congratulations to the following physicians: Elizabeth Etkin-Kramer, M.D.; Rafael Fernandez, Jr., M.D.; Jorge Marcos, M.D.; Rudolph Moise, D.O., M.B.A., J.D.; and Lauren Shapiro, M.D.
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