Medicare’s initial foray into pay for performance has been disastrous. Only 20 percent of physicians were able to even view their reports, which told them whether they were reporting correctly.

So for the following year, many doctors aren’t even sure if they’re completing the necessary requirements to receive a bonus:

If some physicians don’t qualify for a 2008 bonus because they are not reporting correctly or their necessary information is not making it to CMS, they may find out the problem too late to salvage a bonus for 2009 as well.

Almost a quarter of doctors have dropped out of the program, with many simply calling it an “exercise in frustration.”

What a debacle.

topics: medicare, pay for performance