Fee for Service: Will It Ever Die?

Abstract

In this chapter, the author shares his long and varied experience in the realm of fee-for-service Medicare. He makes the critical point that while new alternative payment methodologies are being encouraged, fee-for-service will probably not disappear in the near future. Furthermore, even practices that receive capitated payments, or health systems that have clinicians on a salary, continue to utilize productivity-based evaluation metrics. These are often based on traditional fee-for-service codes. There is discussion on how clinicians in a geriatric practice can still take a geriatric approach to care while bringing in an adequate revenue stream. There is also discussion on how to leverage fee-for-service with the managed care environment.