government
Internists launch new doctor payment commission
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted March 12, 2012
A new independent commission sponsored by the Society of General Internal Medicine will explore the adequacy of payments to physicians and how alternative payment models might affect patient care.
The National Commission on Physician Payment Reform plans to issue recommendations to policymakers on how to overhaul the public and private doctor pay system in ways that control the increase of health spending while ensuring good patient outcomes. Physician payment and clinical decisions are a major driver of health system costs, said the organization, which has nearly 3,000 members.
"This commission couldn't come at a better time, given political realities and a desperate need to rein in health care costs while maximizing quality," said former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, MD (R, Tenn.), the panel's honorary chair. "We want to continue to provide the best care possible, but the need to constrain costs can no longer be dodged. We are taking away money from nursing homes, schools and other public services to pay for ever-escalating health care expenses."
Steven Schroeder, MD, former president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a professor of health and health care in the Dept. of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, will serve as chair and lead a panel of a dozen other commissioners.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/03/12/gvbf0312.htm.
