Achievements in Clinical Excellence (ACE) - Clinicians
To view your ACE Clinicians scores, please first login into Provider Express here. Once logged in, you will find your report under Provider Reports under the "More" menu tab as shown below.
Click a title to view
specific information:
- ACE is a quality-driven, data-rich measurement program that recognizes excellent performance
- What does the ACE program hope to achieve?
- ACE broadens the scope of clinical outcomes data
- The importance of Platinum recognition
- Where can I view my scores? (Must first login to Provider Express here)
- Obtaining your One Healthcare ID
- How effectiveness and efficiency metrics are compiled
- Note on specific state exclusions
- Additional information, FAQs, forms
- Wellness Assessment forms here
ACE is a quality-driven, data-rich measurement program that recognizes excellent performance
ACE is a quality-focused measurement program that recognizes excellent service from our network clinicians and creates more transparency for care advocates and members. Using nationally based, regionally-adjusted metrics, Optum will identify clinicians and groups who deliver outstanding care for members by consistently meeting ACE metrics. The results of this data-driven system will allow us to recognize and reward those providers who meet or exceed ACE benchmarks.
What does the ACE program hope to achieve?
Optum seeks to recognize clinicians who consistently meet ACE metrics and provide outstanding care for members. Our motive is to create an environment of better transparency and choice for members, and a more loyal patient population for our network providers. It is our strong belief that member outcomes are the most important indicator of quality health care service.
ACE broadens the scope of clinical outcomes data by
- Utilizing metrics based on effectiveness and efficiency data submitted via Wellness Assessments
- Presenting clinicians with feedback using nationally recognized, evidenced-based measures
- Allowing for comparisons of practitioners by region and area of clinical specialty
- Rewarding clinicians with significant perks and better visibility on liveandworkwell.com
The importance of Platinum status
While every clinician listed on the liveandworkwell.com website has met rigorous credentialing standards required by Optum, the ACE program relies on metrics compiled from data submitted through Wellness Assessments, for effectiveness, and from claims for efficiency. These scores are then used to identify network clinicians and groups who have achieved Platinum. When a clinician or group demonstrates consistency in meeting ACE metrics, they are recognized as a Platinum provider and are identified with a Platinum ribbon within their listing on the liveandworkwell.com website and other provider search directories available to members and care advocates.
Platinum recognition on liveandworkwell.com is important because it helps make the provider more visible to both members and care advocates searching for services on the liveandworkwell.com website.
The Platinum ribbon designation is intended only as a guide when choosing a clinician or clinician group and should not be the sole factor in a member’s selection of a treatment professional. For more on ACE clinician evaluation program, click here.
Due to state regulatory requirements, outpatient providers in the following seven states are excluded from being publicly recognized for their Platinum achievement: California, Colorado, Maryland, Missouri, New York, Tennessee and Texas.
If your practice resides in one of the excluded states, it’s very important that you continue submitting Wellness Assessments. Even though your practice may reside in one of the excluded states, your data will still be evaluated and may still qualify you or your group for performance-based contracting increases. And once we receive national recognition and NCQA accreditation for our ACE metrics, we will have your data on hand in order to appropriately identify you within the ACE program.
Practitioners will be able to view their scores by logging into Provider Express with their One Healthcare ID, put your mouse over the More menu and then select Provider Reports, then click on "Achievements in Clinical Excellence" on the dashboard. Scores will be made available for viewing on or about November 1 annually. Clinicians will then have a 60-day period to review their data prior to any public recognition. Questions regarding ACE scores may be made by submitting an ACE Review Request Form. To ensure a timely review, it is important that you submit a review request within 30 days of being notified of your score.
How effectiveness and efficiency metrics are compiled
The foundation of ACE is driven by input from our National Advisory Council and network clinicians regarding performance measurement and is guided by current clinical outcomes research.
Effectiveness
The effectiveness measure is compiled from the clinician Severity Adjusted Effect Size (SAES) metric from submitted Wellness Assessments.
Severity Adjusted Effect Size is a standardized measure of change commonly used in the social sciences to describe the effectiveness of treatments. SAES was chosen to measure clinical outcomes for the ACE program because it meets the requirements for:
- Transparency
- Incorporates input from external statisticians and subject matter experts
- Integrates benchmarks
Additionally, SAES takes the concept of effect size one step further by incorporating statistical adjustments to account for member characteristics (e.g., clinical severity). In the same way that SAES can be used to measure the effectiveness of a single treatment episode for one clinician, it can also be used to derive a measure of effectiveness for group practices.
Efficiency
The efficiency metric is the difference between the predicted Average Number of Visits (ANOV) and the expected ANOV. This difference is what we refer to as the residual Average Number of Visits per treatment episode. Below summarizes how Optum calculates the residual Average Number of Visits.
- Predicted Average Number of Visits
Calculation of the predicted Average Number of Visits accounts for multiple treatment episodes for each clinician and patient case mix. The ANOV represents the average number of visits per episode that is “predicted” based on the clinician’s performance with his/her observed case mix. The model adjusts for case-mix variables that include member demographics, severity and acuity, and other treatment characteristics. - Expected Average Number of Visits
The expected ANOV represents the average number of visits “expected” for an average clinician with a similar member case mix. The model adjusts for case-mix variables that include member demographics, severity and acuity, and other treatment characteristics. - Residual Average Number of Visits
The residual ANOV represents the difference between the predicted ANOV and the expected ANOV for a clinician. A negative residual means that the predicted ANOV was LOWER than the expected ANOV given the clinician’s case mix. A positive residual means that the predicted ANOV was HIGHER than the expected ANOV given the clinician’s case mix. The residual for an individual clinician or group is then benchmarked against regional criteria and used to determine if the provider meets the regional benchmark for residual ANOV.
A "treatment episode" is comprised of consecutive outpatient visits and/or medication services incurred by a patient with a clinician or group over a 12-month period. An episode begins with the first date of service (“index” date) incurred after a minimum of 120* days in which the member was not treated by the clinician. An episode ends 12 months after the start date unless there is a gap in treatment of 120 days or more. If a gap in treatment of 120 days or more occurs within the 12-month period, the episode ends at the last date of service before the gap.
*The 120-day gap in treatment that indicates the beginning or end of a treatment episode applies to Psychologists (LP, PhD) and Master's level clinicians (e.g., MFT, LCSW). The gap expands to 180 days for Psychiatrists (MD) and Nurse Practitioners (e.g., NP, MHNP), who may see patients less frequently for medication management.
IMPORTANT NOTICE IF YOUR PRACTICE IS IN ONE OF THE EXCLUDED STATES
Optum is pursuing national recognition and NCQA accreditation for our metrics, which will pave the way for inclusion of your state in the ACE program. Until then, however, it is still very important that you continue submitting Wellness Assessments. Your data will continue to be evaluated and you may still be eligible to receive pay-for-value performance rewards and FREE CEUs.
Additional Information, FAQs, Forms
If you have additional questions or would like more information, please email: ace@optum.com
If you’re not already registered with Provider Express, sign up today and discover its many benefits.
