Oliver is an active 57-year-old. He skis in the winter, surfs in the summer, plays golf, and runs year round. Lately, he's been noticing some intense pain in his right knee. What started out as a nagging ache has now become intolerable from Oliver's perspective. It is impacting his ability to do all of the activities he loves. To make matters worse, he's hobbling around like a man far older than his 57 years. He mentions his concerns during his annual physical with his Primary Care Physician. His PCP refers him to an orthopedist in the network with whom the PCP has worked for many years. The orthopedist name is Dr. Fixx. Oliver's PCP knows that Dr. Fixx is someone who does not automatically recommend surgery, rather assessing the patient and engaging the patient in the decision making about the appropriate course of treatment. Oliver schedules an appointment with Dr. Fixx. After a physical exam and consultation to discuss Oliver's symptoms and desires, in terms of the expected outcomes after the treatment, Dr. Fixx recommends surgery to replace Oliver's right knee. Dr. Fixx thinks Oliver is a good candidate for surgery with a rapid recovery and full expectation that he will be back on the golf course and ski slopes within a few months. Given Oliver's good health and young age, as well as strong support system at home to help with his recovery, he recommends doing the surgery in the outpatient surgical center, thus avoiding any overnight time in the hospital while getting Oliver back home where he will be most comfortable and safe from infection risk. During the examination and follow-up discussion, Dr. Fixx mentions to Oliver that he is participating in a pilot that pays him for the services he provides to patients like Oliver through a bundled payment mechanism. This means that Dr. Fixx assumes accountability for Oliver's care starting a few days prior to the surgery and for 90 days after the surgery is complete. If there are any complications, the cost and quality of those complications will unfavorably impact his income. If care is provided efficiently and the outcomes are as good as expected, Dr. Fixx will earn additional income by sharing any savings achieved relative to targets. Dr. Fixx explains that he and his nurses will be available to Oliver throughout the episode, from before the surgery to well after the surgery, facilitating his interactions with other providers like physical therapists and to answer any questions he may have during his recovery. Oliver is giving contact information so that if there are questions or concerns rather than calling 911 or going to the emergency room, he calls Dr. Fixx and his team. Oliver wholeheartedly approves of the concept and incentives to ensure that he gets the best possible care. Dr. Fixx tells Oliver that since participating in this new bundled payment model, his patients have achieved substantially better outcomes in terms of time to get back to daily activities, little to no use of high-cost rehab and nursing facilities, and very low likelihood of complications and readmissions. Oliver enthusiastically approves of the concept and incentives to ensure that he gets the best possible care and can get back to his normal activities soon. So, have you or a family member had a condition where the doctor was so upfront and telling you what your treatment options were? If surgery was pursued, did the physician takes such an active interest in your recovery and health outcomes? Were they as transparent and explaining financial penalties if there were complications as Dr. Fixx was? How did you feel about all of that? If you have not experienced this personally, try to put yourself in Oliver's situation and describe how you would respond.