Paying for physician care a complicated process

Medicine is one of the best compensated professions in the United States, but perhaps one of the most misunderstood when it comes to how people get paid.

Traditionally, doctors are paid under what we call the fee-for-service model. The more visits, the more tasks, the more procedures, the more they earn.

And that’s still very much the basis for healthcare in the United States. The problem is that rewards volume, not necessarily better outcomes.

The problem has evolved over time as doctors move away from being business owners. Decades ago, most doctors owned their own practices, and they would use the money that they were reimbursed for the care they provided to collect a salary and then for the operations of their business, said Katie Gilfillan, policy director for the Healthcare Financ