Summary
Medicare will reward based on outcome Medicare will pay for chronic illness acre based on outcome results Be careful about heading towards cancer care rationing
Analysis
Performance based incentives are the wave of the future, but why do docs and hospitals need to be the only ones judge by this measure? Allofficials in government should be judged based on their results. I agree that duplicity of care is something that needs to be avoided and performance standards need to be set. The problem is that these things need to be judged on an individula basis, as we docs can't choose our patient population. Some of us work in areas where the general health status may be subpar and therefore our outcomes can't be judged against areas that have healthier clients. Also, I especially worry about cancer care. If we ration cancer therapy, as they do in the UK, we can expect survival rates to go down significantly. When one compares the UK to other developed countries that give special consideration for cancer care, it is obvious how the UK has failed in this area.
