MGMA 2017 Regulatory Burden Survey: The Results Are In…

Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) has just released the results of its 2017 Regulatory Burden Survey. The objective of the survey is to garner insight, from the perspective of physicians, with respect to the cost and operational challenges of regulatory compliance on their medical practices. The survey reports responses from 750 medical groups. The tranche with the largest representation were medical practices with between 6-20 physicians.

The following are the highpoints of the survey as reported by the MGMA:

1. Regulatory and administrative requirements take away from the care of patients. 84% of the respondents agree that reducing the complexities of Medicare would allow providers to dedicate more resources to the care of patients. It was also noted that the increases in the regulatory and administrative burdens alone do not create the biggest problem. It’s the fact that these burdens do not contribute to the improvement in patient care nor do they serve to reduce costs.
2. Practices do not see a real benefit in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). 80% of respondents are questioning the relevance MIPS has to the care of patients; 73% of the respondents see MIPS as a government program that does not align with the clinical quality priorities. Most of the respondents are participating in MIPS and 72% expect to exceed the minimum reporting requirements.
3. The complexity of MIPS is a barrier to success. More than 70% of the respondents believe that the method of scoring for MIPS is overly complex; 69% are very concerned that the lack of clarity in the program guidance will be impairment to success in participating in MIPS.
4. Practices are increasingly dependent on third-part vendors that are not accountable to the same rules and mandates. 68% of the respondents believe that the lack of EHR interoperability creates an extreme burden on medical practices, and most of the respondents have expressed concern with the EHR certification requirements by the Federal government.
5. Non-standardized and onerous transactions drive up the cost of health care. 93% of the respondents would like to see a single source for credentialing with Medicare, Medicaid and commercial payors; almost 75% of the respondents believe that not having electronic attachments for claims as well as authorizations is extremely burdensome.

Dr. Halee Fischer-Wright, CEO and President of the MGMA stated, “The magnitude of regulatory demands on physicians forces medical group practices to needlessly focus precious time and resources on administrative tasks instead of patient care. MGMA calls for national effort to relieve physician practices from excessive government regulation and looks forward to working with both the Administration and Congress to find meaningful solutions.”