Traditional fee-for-service Medicare payment systems and fragmented patient care: the backdrop for non-operating room procedures and anesthesia services.
Achieving fundamental reform of the health care system to improve patient outcomes will take decades of effort and a major shift in financial, medical, and political behaviors that have built up since the beginning of health insurance in the United States. To the extent that the present payment systems contribute to the high cost, poor quality, and lack of accountability that characterizes today's health care delivery system, there is hope that reforms are within reach.
Harvard School of Public Health, 677 Huntington Avenue, Boston, MA 02115, USA. nkane@hsph.harvard.edu
Nancy M
NM
Kane
D000556:Ambulatory Surgical Procedures / Q000191:economics; D000758:Anesthesia / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D005245:Fee Schedules / Q000639:trends; D018588:Fee-for-Service Plans / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D005251:Fees, Medical / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D015442:Medicare Assignment; D005791:Patient Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence / Q000639:trends*; D014481:United States