And happier patients reduce costs substantially. Across the board, their bills were reduced a whopping 72 percent. This data is astounding, and the savings pay for the disease state management program over and over again. While he acknowledges that it took a great deal of work from a number of physicians and staff to develop the program, he says the effort proves teamwork can bring immeasurable satisfaction, and family physicians can realize their role as team leaders. Well-intentioned, smart physicians cannot do this as well by themselves.
Physicians have to come to realize that.
Sure, we have the skills, but we don't have the time, so we're not the best people in the system to perform these tasks. Physicians' scores and their performance relative to other Prairie physicians in their specialty determine physician bonuses. Twenty-five percent of each physician's yearly compensation package is potentially discretionary. We expect that virtually 90 percent of everyone will get 25 percent. It's not a stick.