The full story from the American Medical Association news service, amednews.com, reports that the health care reform bill—the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—will result in many primary care physicians being paid more.

The steady erosion of physicians in primary care is a genuine national crisis and has been going on for some time. The law also takes the first necessary steps toward breaking the link between pay and volume of services, said Frederick E. Turton, MD, chair of the American College of Physicians’ Board of Regents. “The patient-centered medical home has the possibility of saving real money.” (Emphasis added)

In my opinion, and the opinion of credentialed people whose opinion is far more valuable, the addition of the patient-centered medical home also offers the possibility of safer, better care for patients. This model of care—in which a doctor and other team members care for patients—also can provide coordination of care which is essential in the fragmented health care system we have now. Every patient needs assistance with following through on their care plans if the plans involve other doctors, tests or treatments. This is a common sense model, which, we hope, does not doom it. Common sense has not been the order of the day in health care for some time.

Not all primary care physicians will benefit equally, however. The AMA thinks more is needed. No surprise there. We agree.

As the full story says:

• The new 10% Medicare bonus applies to doctors who have 60% of their Medicare billing in primary care. There are many primary care physicians who would not meet this threshold but deserve to be paid the same. It can affect many rural doctors, the story says, and the rural areas desperately need primary care physicians.
• The law does not deal with Medicare’s growth rate formula, an annual nightmare in which Congress nearly causes a train wreck as it involves  itself in what doctors are paid.
• The law does not do much about medical liability reform. Some favor expert panels to judge malpractice cases. These provide the opportunity for remedy when patients are harmed. We favor panels of experts who have the ability to make sound judgments—juries often do not.

amednews.com

“Physicians who provide primary care to patients are among those the federal government will (be) single(d) out for more support under the final health system reform package that is now the law of the land. (Emphasis added)

“On March 30, President Obama signed a package of amendments to the main health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The House and Senate on March 25 adopted the amendments to address a number of concerns House members had with the underlying Senate-authored law.

“Physician organizations, including the American Medical Association, supported the reform provisions boosting primary care. For example, the amendments package increases Medicaid primary care pay to 100% of Medicare rates in 2013 and 2014 and boosts funding for community health centers. The main reform law provides a 10% Medicare bonus from 2011 to 2015 for certain primary care and major surgical procedures provided by doctors in health professional shortage areas.” (Emphasis added)

Source: amednews.com,