Capitation dollars are revenue, which is different from income.
Income is what the doctor keeps after health care services are paid for.
Bonuses and withholds are common incentives for both salaried and capitated physicians, and also for chief executives. But we are doctors, not executives. In capitated managed care, and especially in global capitation, the doctor who takes home more does so by spending less on patients. With just this conflict in mind, the Health Care Financing Administration's new rules on incentives limit the amount of potential physician bonuses to 25 percent. Financial incentives in managed care are not new.