Moving from “Reporting on” to “Leading” Healthcare – A Conversation with Dr. Halee Fischer-Wright, President & CEO of MGMA

In Chapter 3 of Dr. Halee Fischer-Wright’s new book Back to Balance, she writes: “People are increasingly being treated as if they are the same. Science and data are being used to decrease variability in an attempt to get doctors to treat patients in predictable ways.” This statement is Fischer-Wright’s way of saying that the current focus on standardization of healthcare processes in the quest to reduce costs and increase quality may not be the brass ring we should be striving for. She believes that a balance is needed between healthcare standardization and the fact that each patient is a unique individual. As president of the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), a role Fischer-Wright has held since 2015, she is uniquely positioned to see first-hand the impact standardization (from both legislative and technological forces) has had on the medical profession. With over 40,000 members, MGMA represents many of America’s physician practices – a group particularly hard hit over the past few years by the technology compliance requirements of Meaningful Use and changes to reimbursements. For many physician practices Meaningful Use has turned out to be more of a compliance program rather than an incentive program. To meet the program’s requirements, physicians have had to alter their workflows and documentation approaches. Complying with the program and satisfying the reporting requirements became the focus, which Fischer-Wright believes is a terrible unintende...
Source: EMR and HIPAA - Category: Information Technology Authors: Tags: Healthcare HealthCare IT Medical Economics Practice Management Meaningful Use medical workflow MGMA Physician Practices Source Type: blogs