The COVID-19 pandemic has brought the nation’s long-simmering primary care crisis to a boil. At a time when primary care providers are needed most, too many people can’t find one or have a hard time getting an appointment. Many clinicians are overwhelmed by work and financially stressed, with some even on the brink of quitting.

In an op-ed in Modern Healthcare (paywall), Commonwealth Fund President David Blumenthal, M.D., and Farzad Mostashari, M.D., CEO of Aledade, put forward part of the solution: a capitated compensation model that offers primary care practices financial stability and predictability, freedom to innovate, and incentives to keep people healthy and out of hospitals. Such a system would reward providers for achieving better patient outcomes, paying them per patient rather than per visit or procedure. 

As the authors note, the Biden administration has the authority to spread this kind of value-based care without waiting for Congress.