Opinion
Pay-for-performance proves physicians are own worst enemies
LETTER — Posted Sept. 12, 2005
Regarding "Pay-for-performance must measure up" (Editorial, July 18): So it may come to fruition. I sent in a letter years ago pleading for doctors to wake up regarding partaking in plans to do pilot studies linking payments to performance. No one listened. My letter was not published.
Some doctor or group somewhere thought they could get a step up on the rest of us by providing so much better service that they would reap huge rewards. What a joke. They for some unbelievable reason could not see that this was merely a ploy (and a very clear one at that) to lower our reimbursement and drag us down with yet more burdensome expenses and paperwork and online work.
Again, we prove to anyone watching that we are our own worst enemies. Again, I recommend that the AMA come out with extremely strong language against this, and provide no help whatsoever in its implementation. When will you guys (the ones going along with this) learn that these plans have nothing to do with quality of care?
John Cottam, MD, Tampa, Fla.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2005/09/12/edlt0912.htm.
