CareFirst to pay doctors $23M under primary care program

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield will pay out around $23 million to doctors whose patients' healthcare costs came in lower than what was expected. The additional payments, which doctors will receive increased reimbursements for certain primary care services from July 1 through June 30, 2013, are part of CareFirst's Patient-Centered Medical Home, or PCMH program. The program gives doctors financial incentives and other rewards for improving their patients' overall health. CareFirst announced June 7 that in its first year, the program had a net savings of 1.5 percent, or about $40 million, for the Baltimore insurer.