MACRA Comment: CMS + MIPS/APM = Death of the Private Practice Physician

By NIRAN AL-AGBA Small, independent private practices are closing, increasing numbers of physicians are retiring early, and fewer medical school graduates are choosing primary care.  The old-fashioned practice my father and I have built is a dying entity.  Parents say coming to see us for an appointment feels more like a visit with a friend than a medical encounter.  I am fighting for the subsistence of rural primary care practices.  Most will not survive MACRA proposed changes to the reimbursement structure.  Seven days ago, I attended an “informational listening session,” sponsored by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for rural physicians to learn more about the new MACRA proposal known as MIPS/APM (Merit-Based Incentive Payment System/Alternative Payment Model.)  This new plan will penalize 7 out of 10 small practices with 1-2 physicians in this country.  Why? Because they will be overwhelmed complying with fruitless statistical reporting demands that do nothing to enhance the quality of care, instead of spending precious time seeing patients.  Raising my hand, I inquired as to how CMS proposes to ease our burden of data reporting.  “I am not sure, but leave a comment on the website and maybe someone will address your needs.”  Not likely.  A family practice physician described how technical mistakes from the claims clearinghouse caused her Medicare payments to be frozen for 8 months.  “Thank God my father died and left me a small in...
Source: The Health Care Blog - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized CMS MACRA Reporting Small Practice Source Type: blogs