March 4—An industry group has issued 12 recommendations aimed at reining in healthcare spending and improving quality of care by changing the way physicians are paid. The recommendations appear in a report from the independent National Commission on Physician Payment Reform, created a year ago by the Society of General Internal Medicine. 

The report seeks to provide a five-year blueprint for transitioning to what the authors describe as a blended payment system based on quality and value. Over time, payers should largely eliminate stand-alone fee-for-service payment to medical practices because of its inherent inefficiencies and problematic financial incentives, according to the report.

The transition should start with testing new models of care, incorporating them into physician practices, with the goal of broad adoption by the end of the decade.

The commission is composed of physicians from various medical specialties and provider, insurance, state, and healthcare policy representatives and is funded in part by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the California Healthcare Foundation.

Read more about the report’s 12 recommendations here.

Publication Date: Monday, March 04, 2013