MANASQUAN, NJ -- HEALTHCARE UPDATE NEWS SERVICE™ -- DECEMBER 12, 2006: Pay for performance is the hottest trend sweeping the healthcare industry today. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been paid out to healthcare providers participating in P4P over the past three years. In one physicians program alone nearly $90 million was paid out over a two year period.

The growth of the programs has been explosive. Last year there were 112 P4P programs, up from 84 in the previous year. That growth rate is expected to continue especially in light of Medicare's call for Congress to change its current physician reimbursement system to a P4P model rather than rubber stamping increases every year.

In response to this trend, Pay For Performance Reporter, a new monthly newsletter that covers the news and key developments in P4P, has been launched by The Managed Care Information Center. The new service will provide the latest information, insight, and analysis on the growing adoption of provider incentive bonuses.

Pay For Performance Reporter is available in print, HTML, and PDF formats and includes full personalized email news alerts, results of exclusive reader surveys, and online access to back issues. For a limited time, new subscribers will also receive MCIC's new special report on P4P: "New Initiatives, Trends, and Results in Provider Pay for Performance," a $99 value. For more information, or to order, visit: www.healthresourcesonline.com/managed_care/p4ppg.htm

P4P focuses on quality issues as well as patient satisfaction. But the quality in care is uppermost and zeroes in on the deadly "quality gaps" that contribute to 42,000 to 79,000 avoidable deaths every year, based on National Committee For Quality Assurance (NCQA) figures.

As quality concerns escalate and healthcare costs skyrocket, more provider pay for performance incentive reimbursement programs are being implemented by health plans around the country as a way to reward healthcare efficiency and effectiveness.

• Insider lessons learned by early adopters of physician incentive bonus programs, executives, and physician leaders
• The latest from the organizations that have 'pioneered' exploration of hospital and physician pay for performance programs including the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA), The Leapfrog Group, and such participating health plans as Aetna, Blue Cross, Blue Shield, CIGNA, Health Net, and PacifiCare
• News on the latest research like the study that showed significant quality improvements as a result of a physician pay for performance program by a large health plan
• Answers to your questions about physician compensation programs: Is there a "right way" to get physician buy-in? What makes for an effective outcomes-based physician incentive program? How is a "P4P" program implemented? What do health plans want in a provider performance quality program? What are the categories for physician incentives and hospital measures?
• Information from those involved in setting up and administering these physician incentive programs
• What's working in P4P
• Insight like how to deal with the top ten P4P pitfalls, or physician incentive examples and best practices
• Characteristics of successful incentive bonus programs to date and a preview of the next generation of provider incentive programs
• Details on new quality of care and patient satisfaction programs
• Sources for assistance in setting up a physician incentive program
• Where P4P is headed in the years ahead
• Pro and cons from leading health organizations and stakeholders such as the National Business Coalition on Health, the American Medical Association, AARP, the American College of Physicians, and, The Alliance of Specialty Medicine

The cost of the Pay For Performance Reporter is regularly $297 a year (12 issues) but can be purchased for $247 as part of MCIC's special introductory offer. For further information, visit: www.healthresourcesonline.com/managed_care/p4ppg.htm or call (800) 516-4343.

Address: The Managed Care Information Center, 1913 Atlantic Ave., Suite F4, Manasquan, NJ 08736; (732) 292-1100, www.themcic.com