Large Physician Groups Keen To Implement Value-Based Reimbursement
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
Black Book Poll reveals interoperability remains the sole area of dissatisfaction with vendors.
The latest poll by Black Book Market Research found 76 percent of physician practices with more than 25 clinicians are eager to apply their EHR enhancements in functionality, service, and value-based payment innovation in 2016. The poll shows large physician groups are anxious to move forward with value-based reimbursement models and interoperability remains the sole area of dissatisfaction with vendors to date.
“The nature of integrated EHR functionality and practice management is also changing, given that Medicare and commercial payers are endeavoring on the shift away from pay-per-procedure billing to paying for value incentives for providing better care efficiently,” said Doug Brown, Managing Partner of Black Book. “Notably, leading-edge EHR are supporting large group medical practices with multiple specialties and multiple locations real-time insights and flexible technology to help drive successful accountable care organizations.”
While larger healthcare organizations are apparently embracing the value-based care and reimbursement models, smaller practices are slower to jump on the bandwagon. Brown explained, “Smaller practices are disadvantaged in terms of health IT resources, and expected to merge or form joint ventures to meet the challenge of value-based care and acquiring the IT infrastructure needed to support it. Black Book expects that most small- and medium-sized practices will eventually join larger organizations, such as independent practice associations (IPAs), accountable care organizations (ACOs), and bigger medical groups to be successful under MACRA.”
The poll also ranks vendors with Allscripts and athenahealth coming out on top for the third consecutive year, ranking highest in user satisfaction and client loyalty for ambulatory providers. Allscripts ranked first for larger provider groups that have 26 or more practitioners and independent practice groups and athenahealth for smaller physician groups with six to 10 physicians and 11 to 25 physicians. Marshfield Clinic Information Services, a subsidiary of Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin, ranked top vendor among users in multispecialty clinics for the first time.
“Allscripts, MCIS, and athenahealth have all made significant investments in user experience and client satisfaction over the past year, securing their places at the top of the group practice EHR most wanted list,” said Brown. “Users of these systems stated that uptick was due to vendor investments in updates and releases, practice assessments and clinical workflow enhancement.”
And while interoperability remains a concern for EHR users, the study underscores the importance of diversity among offerings. Brown explained, “EHR firms with a wide offering of products including health information exchange, population health tools, revenue cycle management services, patient portals, dashboards and analytics are emerging as the next wave of healthcare technology leaders.
“These leading vendors are assisting their clients in assessing current practice operations to meet the demands of ICD-10, payment reform, connectivity beyond closed networks, revenue cycle management gaps, and decision support tools, and recommending effective options within the same vendor suite.”