From the Massachusetts Trenches

On 6/21/2011, the Boston NPR station (WBUR) had an interesting report on how "payment reform" is affecting Massachusetts doctors "in the trenches".

Here's an excerpt from their story, "Payment Reform: Panacea Or Debacle? A View From Middle Massachusetts":

...[T]he dominant message I take from Dr. Glazier is one of concern. It’s not kneejerk resistance to change. It's a view from the medical trenches that says: "I honestly don't see how what you're proposing is going to contain costs. But I do see some very real dangers." Here are seven of his top concerns, lightly distilled:

Some of the dangers he cites include:

1) Global payments don’t get the patient involved in containing costs.
2) No one even knows how much things cost.
3) The problem with risk-sharing is the risk.
4) Without full information, how can we take full risk?
5) How do you operationalize it?
6) Benchmarking is everything.
7) More consolidation to come.

Each of these seven points is covered in more detail in the full article, "Payment Reform: Panacea Or Debacle? A View From Middle Massachusetts".

Again, the problems in Massachusetts serve as a canary-in-the-coal-mine for the rest of the United States.

(Via @Lucidicus.)