Physicians Foundation Reveals 2015 Watch List
By Christine Kern, contributing writer
The list identifies physicians’ issues of concern for the coming year.
The Physicians Foundation, a not-for-profit organization that advances the work of physicians in practice, has released the 2015 version of its biennial Physician Watch List which contains five issues that will be front-and-center for physicians as they engage in patient care during the next year, according to a press release
The 2015 list is based on data gleaned from the foundation's 2014 biennial survey report, which was released in September. Merritt Hawkins, a leading physician search and consulting firm, conducted the survey of 20,000 physicians on which the report was based. Among the top concerns are: practice consolidation, external strains, ICD-10 implementation, transparency around the cost of healthcare services, and patient access to physicians.
Increased consolidation in an effort to reduce costs and improve efficiency and outcomes has actually had a negative impact on competition and results in increased costs and limits patient’s choice regarding physicians. “It also leaves physicians concerned that they are losing autonomy, along with “their ability to make the best decisions for their patients,” wrote the authors.
Second, face time with patients – and patient relationships in general – rank high among physicians when it comes to the enjoyment practice brings them, but the current pressures of today’s practices mean that that time is being shorted. “As these regulatory and marketplace forces persist, it will be more critical than ever for physicians to identify ways to work with support staff in order to maximize the amount of quality time they are able to spend with their patients,” wrote the authors.
Another area of concern is the looming ICD-10 transition. The compliance date is set for Oct. 1, and half of all respondents to the foundation's survey said implementation would cause “severe administrative problems” in their practices. Indeed, 75 percent of survey respondents said ICD-10 would “unnecessarily complicate coding.” Nonetheless, the report's authors urge physicians to take steps now to ensure they are ready for the transition so they will avoid cash flow disruption and lost revenue.
The cost of care transparency, and in particular the difference in the cost of care provided in hospitals or hospital systems versus medical practices, proves a source of frustration for both physicians and patients. “The lack of uniformity and consistency in how certain procedures are priced erodes the ability of physicians to make the best clinical decisions for patients,” wrote the authors, calling for a “straightforward and understandable” system of cost transparency.
Patient access to physician care “presents a formidable challenge to the health care system in 2015 and beyond,” according to the study, especially in light of millions of newly insured patients seeking health care and the shortage of physicians in particular regions or specialties. In the 2014 survey, 44 percent of respondents planned to take steps to reduce patient access to their services through retirement, reduction of patient panel size, reduction of number of hours worked, closure of their practice to new patients, or a transition to nonclinical jobs.
Physicians Foundation President and CEO Lou Goodman, Ph.D., said: “The coming year will again be one of major transition of the U.S. health care system,” said Goodman. “Regulatory and marketplace forces are having a number of unintended effects, including challenging the viability of smaller medical practices, reducing patient choice and putting tremendous strain on the physician/patient relationship.”
To face these challenges, Goodman urged policymakers to “bring physicians into the fold.” Physician input, said Goodman, would help ensure that any policies implemented were “designed to advance the quality of care for America's patients in 2015 and beyond.”