Ann Bittinger addressed the Northeast Florida Medical Group Management Association meeting today. Her presentation was about how physicians and hospitals must collaborate to make the most of pay-for-performance initiatives from private payers and Medicare. Quality tracking and reporting will be the focus of how physicians are paid for their services in the very near future, Bittinger explained. Instead of being paid per procedure, they will be paid based on outcomes and quality.
Coincidentally, a story appeared on this subject in today’s New York Times. Click here for a link to the story. It talks about hospitals’ proclivity for following standard metrics to determine quality, according to a new Joint Commission report.