A must-read article on the challenges facing primary care today:
No serious proposals to narrow the income gap between primary care physicians and specialists are on the national agenda. Fee-for-service payment rewards quantity rather than quality, fostering the rushed visits that underlie primary care’s shortcomings. Pay-for-performance programs appear to be insufficient to make a substantial difference; physicians could increase their income more -— with less additional work -— by adding one or two patient visits each day than by meeting all the quality standards in current performance-based payment programs.
Medrants waxes eloquent on this topic.
