Medical Group Practice Models

Medical Group Practice Models
There are four main models of medical group practice. These are Highly Deductible Health Plans (HDHPs), Preferred Provider Organizations (PPOs), Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). All these models have a common goal of improving care accessibility and affordability but they achieve this objective by the use of different strategies that control utilization of health care services. PPOs are the least restrictive model because it gives the member the freedom to choose preferred health care provider but is also the most expensive model. On the other hand, HMOs model is highly controlled by physicians and thus are the least cost model.
Accountable Care Organization (ACO)

Under this model, physicians and medical professionals belong to multi-specialty physician group and hence are not directly hired. The group HMO pays the multi-specialty group in bulk and the member physicians decide how the pay will be distributed. In addition, physicians under this model only see patients who are covered under the HMO contracted to them.
From the above review of the common medical group practice models, the PPO model would be the most suitable and attractive model for a newly licensed physician. This is because physicians get paid on a fee for service basis and thus their income is directly derived from the volume and value of services rendered. This way, a newly registered physician will be committed to increasing accessibility to care so that they can gain more practice and hence competence in their field of practice.
How Physician Role Has Changed Over the Past 20

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