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11
Fee-for-service payments under scrutiny
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As President Obama and Congress consider healthcare reform, they examine ways to reduce costs yet retain quality care.
Discussions have increased around facilities such as the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN, according to HealthLeaders Media. The Mayo Clinic is able to provide high quality care for less than the cost of care in other parts of the country, where the quality may be lower.
Is this because of overutilization? Are physicians increasing costs by ordering too many tests? If this is the case, then experts say that it could be time to change the way physicians are reimbursed. However, the details of this change are still unclear.
Source: HealthLeaders Media
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Physicians do increase costs by ordering too many tests but not necessarily under the assumptiom that they will make more money. Lack of information of previously performed tests contributes to increasing costs. If a patients is admitted to a hospital with chest pain, most of the time an echocardiogram is ordered. However, sometimes an echocardiogram was recently done and may not need to be repeated. Unfortunetly, the physician cannot know this and orders the test. It is hopeful that the establishment of a universal EMR will help to prevent duplicate testing.
Also, physicians perform tests “just in case.” They are concerned with lawsuits and therefore order a test thinking that because they will be covered. Defensive medicine costs health care billions of dollars a year. certainly, capping malpractice awards can help to reduce defensive medicine practices (although this is now deeply imbedded in the physician culture).
Changing (meaning reducing payments…right?) the payment system to physicians does little to change the practice of medicine. How do we know? Because that has been the solution over the last few years and it has failed. ‘
The solution is to provide physicians with a wealth of information and knowledge and limit the fear of lawsuits. Stop binding the hands of OUR doctors.