Employer Coalition Launching Initiative To Provide Physicians Bonuses For Improving Patient Care

Main Category: Primary Care / General Practice
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 01 Feb 2008 - 5:00 PDT

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A coalition of large employers, including General Electric, IBM and Verizon Communications, is launching a program to give physicians bonuses for adopting a "more integrated approach to coordinating" employees' care, the Wall Street Journal reports. The program is part of Bridges to Excellence, which last year distributed about $10 million in bonuses to doctors for providing quality care and meeting other measures.

Under the new program, physicians would receive incentives for activities such as following up with patients who have been referred to other physicians, tracking laboratory tests and flagging unusual results, and following medical guidelines to treat different health conditions, according to the Journal. Participating doctors could receive about $125 per patient and a maximum of $100,000 in annual bonus payments. Part of the purpose behind the bonuses is to help physicians cover the cost associated with improving care, such as setting up an electronic health record system, according to the Journal.

Bridges to Excellence officials said that such approaches to patient care can create savings of between $250 and $300 per patient within the first year. Francois de Brantes, CEO of the program, said, "We know that in year one, the savings are there, so let's share half of that with physicians" (Fuhrmans, Wall Street Journal, 1/31).

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