React to this article in the Discussion Forum. Indeed, many are losing thousands of dollars a month under capitation. One of the major contributing factors to this situation has been identified by many as an inability to effectively align providers' compensation and incentives. Determining a fair wage for a fair day's work should be relatively straightforward, but for many has become an insurmountable issue.
Capitation is basically a financing system with an ultimate goal of lowering overall costs.
But capitation is reshaping health care delivery as well. The challenge is to ensure that health care delivery is reshaped in the right way. Forget unit costs. The key to successfully managing under capitation lies in the development of a systematic and comprehensive medical management strategy that includes an incentive plan which empowers physicians. Developing and Implementing a Medical Management Strategy Medical management is the process whereby the financing of care and the measurement of clinical outcomes is linked to the delivery of clinical care services in a high quality, cost-effective manner, resulting in both patient and physician satisfaction.