Patients in England will be able to register with any doctor under a move to abolish catchment areas, the Health Secretary has said.
Andy Burnham said people's choice of GP practice was "unnecessarily limited" by current boundaries related to postcode.
The move is likely to net popular GPs extra cash, as money is tied up with how many patients are on a practice list and they will be able to expand to meet demand.
"Within the next 12 months, I want to abolish practice boundaries for patients to allow people to register with the surgery of their choice," Mr Burnham said. "That may mean a practice near work, or in their local neighbourhood from which they are currently excluded by dint of their postcode. But it means that their practice is based on their own needs, not by lines on a map or what is easiest for primary care trusts."
In a speech to the health think tank the King's Fund, Mr Burnham also said the next phase of NHS reform will focus on providing a good "patient experience".
He said: "Today's 'good' NHS can sometimes focus on delivering services where it's best for the provider. A 'great' NHS would deliver services where it's best for the patient - for example, by giving people receiving chemotherapy or renal dialysis control over where they receive their treatment: in a hospital, in their local community or in the comfort of their own home."
He said hospitals where doctors and nurses display a pleasant bedside manner and where wards are clean and attractive will be paid more money. "I want to see payment linked to levels of patient satisfaction through a powerful, new financial framework that rewards people-centred service and care. At the moment, quality is only faintly recognised in the tariff."
He continued: "This is a big culture change for the NHS, which has traditionally been paid by volume. But my judgment is that the service and its staff are ready to make this change."
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