Primary Care Doctors Crucial in Shift to Payment Based on Value

Doubling or possibly tripling the level of services provided by primary care physicians will be a key goal in the government’s transition to paying health providers holistically, according to an official at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Primary care physicians are an underutilized resource, accounting for roughly 5% of total U.S. health-care spending. “That’s got to change,” said Dr. Sanjay Doddamani, a senior adviser and medical officer at the CMS’s Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation.

Dubbed the “Innovation Center,” Doddamani’s unit is charged with finding new ways to pay doctors and hospitals for keeping patients healthy rather ...