Ever wonder why our health care system spends so much money for such mediocre results?
One basic reason is the fee-for-service that rewards specialists doing dubious high-tech operations and expensive tests while systematically underpaying primary care docs doing some of the critical work of coordinating care.
New York Times takes on this topic here, covering a study in this week's New England Journal of Medicine. The article follows in detail just how much uncompensated work was done in one year at a private family practice in Philadelphia. The doctors are paid only for the patient visits, generally under $100. But according to the New York Times: