Word: patients
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...major policy shift, Blue Cross of California announced Tuesday that it will link the bonuses it gives to physicians groups to patient satisfaction instead of to effective cost-cutting...
...know what you're thinking. But according to Blue Cross, the change is not a reaction to the Patient's Bill of Rights proposals being debated on Capitol Hill. Jeff Kamil, Vice President and Medical Director of Blue Cross of California, says the HMO, which represents 2.2 million patients, began work on the proposal more than a year ago, not in a recent act of preemptive self-regulation...
...policy will take various factors into account when evaluating physicians groups, including patient surveys, exit interviews with patients who are switching doctors, as well as the quality of preventative care. Groups that perform well will receive a bonus of up to 10 percent of their quarterly payments - a fillip that was previously linked to much money the group had saved...
...going to make the doctors happier because they can practice medicine the way they were taught, without withholding care," he says. "Most importantly, it's going to make the patient happy, and make them feel like the doctor is their advocate, not a tool of the insurance company...
...good thing," he says. "My skepticism aside, it's going to lead to an improvement in patient care. I'm just concerned that eventually those same improvements may increase the price of the care. What I fear is that we're at a point where we can expect a lot of increases in premiums for the next year...