Mark Lutes, a Member of the Firm in the Health Care and Life Sciences practice, in the Washington, DC, office, was quoted in an article titled "Payers Gain Influence Over the Delivery Side of Healthcare Through Acquisition Deals."
Following is an excerpt:
"Plans are purchasing the management arms of provider practices to incent physicians to cost effectively manage the care of their members," says Lutes. "An alignment of incentives should positively drive costs and quality. If there are incentives to manage an entire population, providers will act consistently."
Lutes, however, doesn't believe the mergers result in clear roles among the payer and provider. A plan might still align itself with physicians by providing management services or by putting physicians under contract to serve its members in a capitated, fee-for-service or other financial arrangement, such as incentives tied to quality, not volume, he says.
