PA insurer to initiate P4P program

Joining the recent roll-out of a number of P4P programs [1], Pennsylvania-based Unison Health Plan, a Medicare and Medicaid provider, has begun enrolling doctors in Unison Gold Star. The program will measure efficiency of medical practice, patient satisfaction and other commonly used quality measures. This is the state's first P4P program aimed at Medicare and Medicaid providers. Eight hundred practices are eligible for rewards ranging from $5,000 to $50,000, depending on the number of Medicare and Medicaid patients the provider serves. Unison hopes the program will encourage efficiency among providers, saving $60 million annually. Now, I'm concerned that such programs will make providers avoid the sickest patients the same way insurers do--for the same reasons, e.g. the probability of losing money on the deal!--but insurers seem convinced that this approach is worth a trial.

- for more, read this article [2] from the Pittsburgh Business Times