INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Health insurer WellPoint Inc. plans to improve primary care doctor payments and start reimbursing physicians for care management it doesn't currently cover as a way boost treatment and save money.

The Indianapolis company said Friday it will increase the fees it pays to doctor practices, and it will start paying for services like preparing care plans for patients with complex medical problems. It also will offer doctors an opportunity to share in some savings when better patient care leads to a reduction in costs.

WellPoint officials say the aim is to give doctors a chance to do more for patients outside of episodic care, or just treating a person when they become sick. That may mean, for example, working with an overweight person who has diabetes to develop an exercise plan and then making sure the person stays on it.

Under the concept, doctors will be able to spend more time with patients, listening to them and understanding their concerns, said Jill Hummel, a WellPoint vice president.

"It makes the physician the kind of physician their patient wants them to be," Hummel said.

WellPoint Inc. operates Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in 14 states and is the largest health insurer based on enrollment, with more than 34 million people covered. The insurer will start rolling out this new payment plan in the third quarter and aims to implement it across its primary care network by 2014.