Docs: MACRA success requires less burdensome performance reporting

The government must put in place a more workable performance reporting system if it wants Medicare payment reforms to be successful, physician groups were expected to tell lawmakers today.

Representatives of the American Medical Association and other physician groups were to make their case before lawmakers this morning at a Subcommittee on Health hearing on Capitol Hill, according to Healthcare Finance.

The hearing will focus on what medical practices must do to successfully implement the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). The government must streamline performance reporting so that quality measurement reporting and data requirements are standardized across payer types, physician groups are expected to argue, according to the report.

One recent study found that U.S. medical practices are spending more than $15.4 billion per year to measure their progress against quality measures. A random survey or 1,000 practices found physicians and staff spend 15.1 hours engaged in quality measure reporting each week, at a cost of more than $40,000 per year for each doctor, as FiercePracticeManagement previously reported.

While Congress passed MACRA last year, physicians are waiting for a proposed rule to be released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that will spell out the rules and regulations.

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