AMA asks Medicare to pay doctors for care coordination

The AMA wants Medicare to start paying doctors for four types of coordination services because they avoid more expensive patient care in the hospital down the line. The services include responding to telephone calls seven days or more after a patient sees the doctor, education and ­training to enable patients to better manage their own health, better management of anticoagulation drugs such as warfarin, and time spent coordinating team-based care when the patient is not present.