Trial program will tie doctors’ pay to service quality
Key lawmakers agree pay-for-performance measures should be part of the fix to the Medicare physician payment formula.
As Congress prepares to debate a fix for the Medicare physician payment formula during the lame-duck session, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced Monday it will begin a demonstration project to compensate physicians for the quality of care to beneficiaries with chronic conditions.
The three-year program, slated to begin in 2007, will include physicians in 800 small- or medium-size practices in Arkansas, California, Massachusetts and Utah. In the first year, physicians will be paid for reporting data on quality measures. In subsequent years, they will be eligible for an annual performance-based bonus of $10,000 per physician and up to $50,000 per practice.
Key members of Congress agree that pay-for-performance measures should be included in a fix to the Medicare physician payment formula. Two House proposals on the table, drafted by House Energy and Commerce Chairman Joe Barton, R-Texas, and Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairwoman Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., offer bonus payments to physicians who participate in quality reporting programs.