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\nImportance<\/strong> Health care costs in the United States are rising rapidly, and consensus exists that we are not achieving sufficient value for this investment. Historically, US physicians have been paid more for performing costly procedures that drive up spending and less for cognitive services that may conserve costs and promote population health.<\/p>\n
Objective<\/strong> To quantify the Medicare payment gap between representative cognitive and procedural services, each requiring similar amounts of physician time.<\/p>\n
\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n
Results<\/strong> The revenue for physician time spent on 2 common procedures (colonoscopy and cataract extraction) was 368% and 486%, respectively, of the revenue for a similar amount of physician time spent on cognitive care.<\/strong><\/p>\n
Conclusions and Relevance<\/strong> Our analysis indicates that Medicare reimburses physicians 3 to 5 times more for common procedural care than for cognitive care and illustrates the financial pressures that may contribute to the US health care system\u2019s emphasis on procedural care. We demonstrate that 2 common specialty procedures can generate more revenue in 1 to 2 hours of total time than a primary care physician receives for an entire day\u2019s work.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n