Policymakers Look to Salary-Based Physician-Payment Models To Lower Health Care Costs

As debate about national health care reform heats up across the country, policymakers are debating potential changes to physician-compensation models.

Currently, most physicians receive payment on a fee-for-service model based on the treatments and procedures they provide.

However, health systems such as Kaiser Permanente offer physicians set salaries and incentives for providing preventive care.

In a California Healthline Special Report by Deirdre Kennedy, experts discussed the benefits and drawbacks of various physician-compensation models.

The Special Report includes comments from:

Jack Chou, president-elect of the California Academy of Family Physicians;
Mark Hall, professor of law and public health at Wake Forest University;
Robert Pearl, CEO and executive director of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group in Northern California; and
James Rohack, president of the American Medical Association.

Experts say the Obama administration is looking to Kaiser Permanente as an example for how salary-based physician-payment models can lower medical costs while improving patient care (Kennedy, California Healthline, 8/19).

KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about KFF.

<h1>Policymakers Look to Salary-Based Physician-Payment Models To Lower Health Care Costs</h1>
<div>		<time class="posted-on" datetime="2009-08-19T00:00:00-07:00">
			August 19, 2009		</time>
		</div>
As debate about national health care reform heats up across the country, policymakers are debating potential changes to physician-compensation models.Currently, most physicians receive payment on a fee-for-service model based on the treatments and procedures they provide.However, health systems such as Kaiser Permanente offer physicians set salaries and incentives for providing preventive care.In a California Healthline Special Report by Deirdre Kennedy, experts discussed the benefits and drawbacks of various physician-compensation models.The Special Report includes comments from:<ul><li>Jack Chou, president-elect of the California Academy of Family Physicians; </li><li>Mark Hall, professor of law and public health at Wake Forest University; </li><li>Robert Pearl, CEO and executive director of the Kaiser Permanente Medical Group in Northern California; and </li><li>James Rohack, president of the American Medical Association.</li></ul>Experts say the Obama administration is looking to Kaiser Permanente as an example for how salary-based physician-payment models can lower medical costs while improving patient care (Kennedy, California Healthline, 8/19).<ul><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/policymakers-look-to-salary-based-physician-payment-models-to-lower-health-care-costs/?share=facebook">				Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)				Facebook			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/policymakers-look-to-salary-based-physician-payment-models-to-lower-health-care-costs/?share=linkedin">				Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)				LinkedIn			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/policymakers-look-to-salary-based-physician-payment-models-to-lower-health-care-costs/?share=x">				Click to share on X (Opens in new window)				X			</a></li><li><a href="mailto:?subject=%5BShared%20Post%5D%20Policymakers%20Look%20to%20Salary-Based%20Physician-Payment%20Models%20To%20Lower%20Health%20Care%20Costs&body=https%3A%2F%2Fcaliforniahealthline.org%2Fnews%2Fpolicymakers-look-to-salary-based-physician-payment-models-to-lower-health-care-costs%2F&share=email">				Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window)				Email			</a></li><li><a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/policymakers-look-to-salary-based-physician-payment-models-to-lower-health-care-costs/#print?share=print">				Click to print (Opens in new window)				Print			</a></li><li>				<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/news/policymakers-look-to-salary-based-physician-payment-models-to-lower-health-care-costs/view/republish/">					Republish This Story				</a>			</li></ul><a href="https://kffhealthnews.org/about-us">KFF Health News</a> is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF—an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism. Learn more about <a href="https://www.kff.org/about-us">KFF</a>.<a href="https://californiahealthline.org/morning-briefing/">Subscribe</a> to KFF Health News' free Morning Briefing.

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