Apart from some managed care plans, in which physician groups are paid on a capitation basis, ambulatory
physicians (including GPs) are paid according to a national FFS scale based on points (TARMED). TARMED
offers some incentives for less resource-intensive forms of care, but is criticized by GPs as insufficient to render
attractive services like coordinating and communicating with chronically ill patients, home visits, and afterhours
care. The point values vary among cantons and service groups (physicians, hospitals) and are negotiated
annually between the health insurers’ associations and the cantonal medical associations or hospitals, or are
decided by the cantonal government if the other parties cannot agree.