Skip to main content

Value-based Pricing and Reimbursement in Health Care


I am a conservative practitioner in my specialty of gastroenterology.  Compared to peers, I order fewer scope examinations, prescriptions and CAT scans.  I’ve always believed that a more parsimonious practice of medicine would protect my patients better than would a more aggressive approach.  Sure, this also means that I spend fewer health care dollars on my patients, but this is not my primary motivator.  I practice in this manner because I am convinced that in the medical profession, less is more.

I am somewhat of an iconoclast as many of my colleagues for various reasons practice differently.  They might feel that my medical nihilism is depriving my patients of necessary testing and treatment. Patients over time tend to find physicians who share their philosophy.   Patients who believe that more testing and more medication is the pathway to better health will not be comfortable with a doctor like me.

But, change is afoot!  I predict that within the next several years, if not sooner, that my practice style will become normative.  Why would this occur?   Why would physicians who were heavy on the medical utilization gas pedal suddenly be pumping the brakes?  

It’s the reimbursement, stupid.   Soon, physicians and hospitals will be paid differently.  Value based pricing will become the means of reimbursing health care providers and institutions.   So long, fee-for-service, a system that rewarded the medical profession for excessive and unnecessary care.  Payers will reward physicians and health care systems that deliver favorable outcomes that are cost-effective.   Not surprisingly, when physicians and hospitals have a financial stake in how they practice, the practice style arc bends.   It’s a law of economics that folks spend other people’s money faster than they would their own.   Do you order differently off the menu when someone else is picking up the tab?

I think I'll order the steak tonight.


Changing the reimbursement policies will make sausage making seem appealing.  Remember, every example of excessive medical care is someone else’s income.  It is unlikely that those who will lose out will champion an effort that might cost them money. 

No system is perfect.  Every reform proposal poses conflicts that need to be exposed and addressed.  We all want high quality medicine that is delivered efficiently.  If, however, there is too much zeal in achieving cost savings, then this could adversely affect quality.   We need to ensure that we remain true to our primary mission which is to protect the health of those whom we serve.   The current system desperately needs to be reformed.  But, we want what emerges to be a step forward on a journey that may take a decade or longer to reach the destination.  If we simply exchange one set of problems for another, then we have traded quicksand for falling off a cliff. 

So, let’s look for the pharmaceutical companies, physicians, hospitals, insurance companies, the government, medical device companies, extended care facilities and the public to join hands as they sway in a Kumbayesque moment all pledged to serve the greater good. 

Comments

  1. nice thought, but good luck with that.Those that believe more is better will always win out."If we can do it,why not do it." The american people have come to expect it and that will not change. We always seek to place blame on other things, but it all really begins with us.If we as individuals don,t change, nothing will.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am really enjoying reading your blog. I actually did a podcast about colonoscopies that was in part inspired by your post on the subject. If you are interested check it out:

    https://quaxpodcast.com/2019/09/ep-29-should-i-get-a-colonoscopy/

    I would love to interview you sometime. Quaxpodcast@gmail.com

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Why Most Doctors Choose Employment

Increasingly, physicians today are employed and most of them willingly so.  The advantages of this employment model, which I will highlight below, appeal to the current and emerging generations of physicians and medical professionals.  In addition, the alternatives to direct employment are scarce, although they do exist.  Private practice gastroenterology practices in Cleveland, for example, are increasingly rare sightings.  Another practice model is gaining ground rapidly on the medical landscape.   Private equity (PE) firms have   been purchasing medical practices who are in need of capital and management oversight.   PE can provide services efficiently as they may be serving multiple practices and have economies of scale.   While these physicians technically have authority over all medical decisions, the PE partners can exert behavioral influences on physicians which can be ethically problematic. For example, if the PE folks reduce non-medical overhead, this may very directly affe

Should Doctors Wear White Coats?

Many professions can be easily identified by their uniforms or state of dress. Consider how easy it is for us to identify a policeman, a judge, a baseball player, a housekeeper, a chef, or a soldier.  There must be a reason why so many professions require a uniform.  Presumably, it is to create team spirit among colleagues and to communicate a message to the clientele.  It certainly doesn’t enhance professional performance.  For instance, do we think if a judge ditches the robe and is wearing jeans and a T-shirt, that he or she cannot issue sage rulings?  If members of a baseball team showed up dressed in comfortable street clothes, would they commit more errors or achieve fewer hits?  The medical profession for most of its existence has had its own uniform.   Male doctors donned a shirt and tie and all doctors wore the iconic white coat.   The stated reason was that this created an aura of professionalism that inspired confidence in patients and their families.   Indeed, even today

Electronic Medical Records vs Physicians: Not a Fair Fight!

Each work day, I enter the chamber of horrors also known as the electronic medical record (EMR).  I’ve endured several versions of this torture over the years, monstrosities that were designed more to appeal to the needs of billers and coders than physicians. Make sense? I will admit that my current EMR, called Epic, is more physician-friendly than prior competitors, but it remains a formidable adversary.  And it’s not a fair fight.  You might be a great chess player, but odds are that you will not vanquish a computer adversary armed with artificial intelligence. I have a competitive advantage over many other physician contestants in the battle of Man vs Machine.   I can type well and can do so while maintaining eye contact with the patient.   You must think I am a magician or a savant.   While this may be true, the birth of my advanced digital skills started decades ago.   (As an aside, digital competence is essential for gastroenterologists.) During college, I worked as a secretary