Few Holistic Doctor Pay Systems Save Money, Some Help Patients

Fewer than 10% of the demonstration projects to test paying doctors for improving patients’ overall health have saved taxpayer dollars over the past decade, a top Medicare and Medicaid official said Friday.

But some payment systems have significantly improved patients’ conditions.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation has run 54 payment models over the 10 years since its creation, and just five have had statistically significant savings, Brad Smith, the center’s director, said in prerecorded remarks at a virtual Better Medicare Alliance summit. The broad concept of the models is to pay doctors per patient rather than for individual ...