title: Fee-For-Service, While Much Maligned, Remains The Dominant Payment Method For Physician Visits.
abstract: Recent concerted efforts have sought to shift provider payment away from fee-for-service and toward risk-based alternatives. Despite these efforts, fee-for-service not only remains the dominant payment method but has continued to grow, with nearly 95 percent of all physician office visits in 2013 reimbursed in this fashion.
authors.affiliation: Samuel H. Zuvekas (samuel.zuvekas@ahrq.hhs.gov) is a senior economist in the Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), in Rockville, Maryland.
authors.forename: Samuel H
authors.initials: SH
authors.lastname: Zuvekas
authors.affiliation: Joel W. Cohen is director of the Center for Financing, Access and Cost Trends, AHRQ.
authors.forename: Joel W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Cohen
mesh_terms: D016208:Databases, Factual; D018588:Fee-for-Service Plans; D005260:Female; D006279:Health Maintenance Organizations / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020380:Needs Assessment; D009819:Office Visits / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010818:Practice Patterns, Physicians' / Q000191:economics*; D011320:Primary Health Care / Q000191:economics* / Q000458:organization & administration; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms / Q000191:economics / Q000639:trends; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States
keywords: Financing Health Care; Managed Care; Physician Payment