MANAGED CARE February 2005. ©MediMedia USA

NEWS AND COMMENTARY

Different methods used to gauge doc performance

There were 84 P4P programs in the country last year, which affect upwards of 35 million members, according to a new study by Med-Vantage, a San Francisco company that develops physician bonus payment strategies. (In 2003, there were about 60 such programs.) So the idea seems to be catching on — except with physicians, many of whom see P4P programs as a way for health plans to cut costs by penalizing doctors for not following what has been called "cookie-cutter" medicine.

Of the 84 programs studied by Med-Vantage, 57 were sponsored by commercial health plans, 12 by Medicaid plans, 5 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, and 4 by other types of organizations.

Just how physician performance is measured has become more important as P4P programs proliferate.

SOURCE: 2004 P4P National Study — Moving Beyond Early Market Adoption, Med-Vantage Inc. (www.medvantageinc.com)

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