Should Physician Pay Be Tied to Performance?

Wall Street Journal – JOURNAL REPORTS  |  June 16, 2013, 4:11 p.m. ET  –  We need to rethink how we pay doctors. That’s one thing almost everyone can agree on.  The question is, how?  Currently, most doctors get paid for every service they perform. But one of the big ideas behind President Obama’s health-care overhaul is paying doctors based on how well they do their job.  This year, for instance, nearly $1 billion in federal Medicare payments will hinge in part on patient-satisfaction surveys. Doctors are also graded on how well they comply with procedures for patient care—such as immediately giving patients medication during a heart attack.  The idea of paying providers for their performance has found plenty of backers—and opponents—throughout the medical community.  Read the article