Page 101 - Cityview Jan-Feb 2017

in quality of treatment as the current model of payment would incentivize the quantity of patients for doctors, rather than the quality of their treatment, as doctors are paid more when they opt to do more procedures.Medicare’s use of the fee-for-service model puts hospitals and other facilities in control of how muchthey will be paid. This seems like a system that would be fairly easy to manipulate, forcing the patient—and Medicare—to cover more costs, thus enriching providers. It essentially makes the doctors into salesmen. The more services they sell, the more they make, and it is not terribly di cultto justify unnecessary treatmentsin order to drive up costs, as both doctors and patients want to be as safe as possible with their healthcare. However, requires a particularly jadedMEDICARE HAS TO CONTAIN COSTS. THE STANDARD ‘FEE-FOR-SERVICE’ THEY HAVEUSED SINCE1965 IS SIMPLYUNSUSTAINABLE. —JEROLD JOHNSONpoint of view to believe this to be true of even a minority of providers. There are no easy hobgoblins here, no simple solutions. And yet the current model remains unsustainable.Jerold Johnson, President of the Senior Financial Group in Knoxville, shares the sentiments, saying, “Medicare has to do something. With the explosion of the 65+ population, over 10,000 people turning 65 eachday, Medicare has to contain costs. The standard ‘fee-for-service’ they have used since 1965 is simply unsustainable. Medicare looks for innovative ways to contain costs and improve the qualityof care, and the [Medicare Bundling project] initiative is a pilot programto position the hospitals and provider groups to accept some of the risk.”The Medicare Bundling initiative to which Johnson is referring is oneJANUARY FEBRUARY 2017 99AGING SPOTLIGHT