Do We Get What We Pay For? Transitioning Physician Payments Towards Value and Efficiency

Excerpt

Unless current trends are interrupted, health care will consume 34 % of the gross domestic product (GDP) by 2040.1 Rising US health care costs have not produced measurable improvement in the overall health of the public, in comparison with other industrialized nations. Additionally, geographic regions spending more on health care have not seen commensurate improvements in quality or outcomes. While about a quarter of projected health care cost increases can be ascribed to the aging of the population, the remainder are likely due to rising health care costs from system inefficiencies and new (often important) technologies, coupled with patient and physician expectations for the “best” of Western medicine. Some estimate that we could reduce 5 % of GDP spending by reducing system inefficiencies, without significant changes in service provision. …