Physician practices are increasingly burdened with regulations that have taken time away from patients in the last year, a Medical Group Management Association survey found.
The 2018 survey involved 426 respondents from medical group practices, most of them with six to 20 physicians.
Seven findings:
1. Most respondents (86 percent) said the overall regulatory burden on their medical practice increased over the last 12 months. Only 2 percent said it decreased, and 12 percent said it did not change.
2. Seventy-nine percent of respondents said the overall regulatory burden on their medical practice related to Medicare participation has increased in the last 12 months. Nineteen percent said it did not change. Two percent said it decreased.
3. Nearly all respondents (94 percent) agreed decreasing regulatory burden would allow their medical practice to spend more resources on patient care.
4. Seventy-eight percent agreed decreasing regulatory burden would allow their medical practice to invest in new technology.
5. Respondents rated the Medicare quality payment program — including the Merit-based Incentive Payment System —as the most burdensome applicable regulatory issue. Eighty-eight percent of respondents said the program is very or extremely burdensome. Prior authorization and lack of EHR interoperability were also among the most burdensome issues cited by respondents.
6. Thirty-eight percent of respondents said they view the move toward value-based payment for physicians as positive, while 57 percent reported a negative view.
7. Ninety percent of respondents said the move toward value-based payment in Medicare/Medicaid increased the regulatory burden on their medical practice.
Read more about the survey here.
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