Regarding HMSA’s self-proclaimed success of payment transformation: Was there ever a poll of primary care physicians (PCPs) to find out whether HMSA’s payment transformation system improves patient care (“HMSA pay plan needs refining,” Star-Advertiser, Our View, July 31)?

A lot of doctors are struggling under reduced reimbursements for their services.

Essential lab tests, vaccine handling, storage and administration are all included in the $20 to $30 per patient per month given to the PCPs, who also are forced to comply with HMSA’s ever-increasing demands that are not directly related to patient care.

Private medical practices consisting of less than five providers are quickly becoming extinct, contributing to the extreme shortage of doctors in Hawaii. In the near future, if anybody needs medical care, the only choices will be in the huge physician groups employed by Queens, Kapiolani/Straub, Castle or Kaiser.

Kenneth Ng

Downtown Honolulu

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