WellPoint will increase its regular reimbursement to primary care physicians this summer and also pay them up to 50 percent more if they maintain or improve quality, according to a news release from the insurer.
The new patient-centered primary care program, as Wellpoint describes it, will change the payor's relationships with PCPs. Along with increased reimbursement, physicians in the program will also be paid for "non-visit" services that are not currently reimbursed. There will be an initial focus on compensating physicians if they create care plans for patients with multiple and complex conditions.
Wellpoint will also extend a hand to primary care physicians in other ways besides reimbursement, such as by enhancing information sharing and care management support from Wellpoint's clinical staff. This new model is based on its successful medical home programs, some of which have seen an 18 percent decrease in inpatient admissions and 15 percent decrease in overall ED visits.
Wellpoint aims to implement the program across its entire primary care network by the end of 2014. By 2015, the payor expects the program could cut overall medical costs by as much as 20 percent.
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The new patient-centered primary care program, as Wellpoint describes it, will change the payor's relationships with PCPs. Along with increased reimbursement, physicians in the program will also be paid for "non-visit" services that are not currently reimbursed. There will be an initial focus on compensating physicians if they create care plans for patients with multiple and complex conditions.
Wellpoint will also extend a hand to primary care physicians in other ways besides reimbursement, such as by enhancing information sharing and care management support from Wellpoint's clinical staff. This new model is based on its successful medical home programs, some of which have seen an 18 percent decrease in inpatient admissions and 15 percent decrease in overall ED visits.
Wellpoint aims to implement the program across its entire primary care network by the end of 2014. By 2015, the payor expects the program could cut overall medical costs by as much as 20 percent.
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