Dr. Niran Al-Agba

Building Better Metrics: Immunizations and Asking the Right Question

Washington State Law allows vaccine exemptions on the basis of religious, philosophical, or personal reasons; therefore, immunizations rates are considerably lower (85%) compared to states where exemptions rules are tighter. Immunization rates are directly proportional to the narrow scope of state vaccine exemptions laws. Immunization rates are used to “rate” the primary care physician despite the fact we have little influence on the outcome according to scientific studies.

Niran Al-Agba2020-05-14T04:07:02+00:00October 10, 2017|Categories: Physician, Policy|Tags: ACA, Affordable Care, Health Policy, Immunizations, Metrics, Vaccine, Value-based Care|

Gaming the System: Pediatrics, Mammograms, and MACRA

Imagine what quality metrics the pediatric cardiac surgeon is going to track. He would do well to collect statistics on how often he images patients for appendicitis because it is likely a rare occurrence. Things are really looking up for the use of data and technology in healthcare. Costs are likely to keep rising with everyone scoring in the 99th% percentile once they figure out how to game the system. But we certainly cannot stand in the way of science or progress now can we?

Niran Al-Agba2020-05-14T03:27:54+00:00February 21, 2017|Categories: Policy, Practice|Tags: ACA, Affordable Care, MACRA, MIPS, Physician Autonomy, Transparency, Value-based Care|

Building Better Metrics: Using Physician Outcomes

Government and insurance companies should stop wasting dollars and cents chasing visions of value, rather use common sense and give physician outcomes the attention they deserve. Healthcare will be on better footing now and into the future.

Niran Al-Agba2020-05-03T22:34:52+00:00August 12, 2016|Categories: Policy, Practice|Tags: Burnout, MACRA, Medicare, MIPS, Physician Autonomy, Physician Suicide, Value-based Care|