MedPage Today Cites HCFO-Funded Study on Variation in Private Insurers’ Physician Payment

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MedPage Today featured findings from a study funded in-part by the HCFO program. The study, by Laurence Baker, Ph.D., Stanford University, and colleagues, examined variation in private insurers’ payment for physician services and found that payment for the highest paid doctors was nearly twice payment for the lowest paid doctors for the same service. Baker and colleagues found that one-third of the variation was associated with the geographic area of practice. Other factors could conclude provider quality, severity of the patient’s illness, regional provider bargaining power, or consumer access to price information, but more information on the causes of this variation is needed to inform policy.