Shifting to capitation in primary care: what might the impact be in New Zealand?

Primary medical care in New Zealand has traditionally been delivered by general practitioners and funded by a mix of fee-for-service government subsidies, user part-charges and private payments. In 1998, New Zealand's national purchaser of publicly-funded health care, the Health Funding Authority, proposed to pay health service organisations capitation fees per enrolled patient, as well as fees-for-service for immunisations and some performance-related payments. This article considers the implications, drawing on theory and research from New Zealand and elsewhere, of different methods for paying general practitioners and other primary care professionals. The main focus is on whether giving a greater emphasis to capitation will lead to a fairer distribution of resources and better access to services for those groups of people who are not well served by the current system.