Study of the Financing of Graduate Medical Education. Report 5. Part 1. Flow of Funds. Part 2. Effects of Physician Reimbursement Methods

摘要

The report covers two components of the larger Graduate Medical Education study. Part 1 traces flow of funds in the teaching complex in order to ascertain the extent to which payment to physicians subsidizes education activities in the teaching complex. Part 2 addresses the issue of whether physician performance and behavior is influenced by the form of reimbursement. Regression analysis suggests that conventional wisdom is correct: salary compensation was associated with lower average physician cost-per-case at the department level, and payment via both fee-for-service and medical practice plans was associated with higher physician costs per case. The analysis suggests strongly that salary compensation leads to lower hospital (and total) costs-per-case.