Emergency docs warn of challenges in new payment models

In a new editorial in the Annals of Emergency Medicine, several emergency physicians warn of the challenges of incorporating what ER docs do into new models that move away from the current fee-for-service payment to an episode-of-care approach that reimburses providers for caring for a population of patients over time. In particular, the ER docs fret that they haven't been involved in current projects to develop new payment models, such as pilots being designed by federal health agencies, the National Quality Forum, the Brookings Institute and others.