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AMA offers guide to new payment models
■ The toolkit includes an explanation of pay-for-performance programs, shared savings and risk adjustment.
Physicians across the country are increasingly faced with making the leap to unfamiliar types of payment systems as payers, hospitals and physicians push for an end to fee-for-service payment.
The American Medical Association released an online tool kit Feb. 24 to help physicians understand and evaluate their options and plan for a transition to a new payment system.
The tool kit is a collection of articles titled "Evaluating and Negotiating Emerging Payment Options," which is free to all physicians online (link).
"The AMA is committed to providing physicians with the tools they need to assess, participate and succeed in emerging payment systems," AMA President Peter W. Carmel, MD, a pediatric neurosurgeon in Newark, N.J., said in a news release.
The tool kit includes a discussion of pay-for-performance programs, bundled payments, shared savings, risk adjustment, capitation and other types of payment models in play across the country. It contains a chapter outlining ethical considerations associated with these payment models.
The AMA recently released two other resources for physicians:
- Geriatric Care by Design was released Feb. 27. The print and electronic book is a guide for physicians caring for older patients. It costs $25.95 for AMA members and $34.95 for nonmembers and may be ordered online (link).
- A continuing medical education program released Feb. 28 helps physicians learn to use the USDA's new ChooseMyPlate.gov website as a tool to educate patients about nutrition and healthy eating habits. The program is available online (link).
