Bridges to Excellence

Bridges to Excellence (BTE) was a prominent non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare in the United States through clinician recognition and financial incentive programs. Founded by a coalition of large employers, health plans, and health services researchers, BTE developed "pay-for-performance" modules that rewarded physicians for meeting specific quality benchmarks in managing chronic conditions like diabetes and cardiac care. The organization's programs were designed to align the incentives of providers, payers, and patients to reduce medical errors and improve clinical outcomes. BTE eventually merged with the PROMETHEUS Payment program to form the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute (HCI3), which was later acquired by Altarum in 2017.