1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to payment systems and methods and, more particularly, to systems and methods of compensating health care providers.
2. Description of Related Art
The increasing cost of health insurance induces insurers to seek new ways to contain increases in healthcare costs. A primary method to achieve this is through various methods of cost shifting from the insurer to patients. By having patients be responsible for an increasing portion of their healthcare spending, the insurers believe that patients will become smarter consumers of healthcare and help to reduce the overall costs. As a result, the proportion of payments from the patient to the physician, as opposed to from the insurer to the physician, increases.