Lack of physician awareness about MACRA persists

Over half the physicians responding to a new survey said they either had not heard of MACRA or did not know much about it.

When CMS finally dropped the final rule implementing MACRA on October 14, it touched off a round of commentary from doctors who had waited anxiously for the decision, as FiercePracticeManagement has reported. Back in July, a Deloitte Center for Health Solutions survey found that half of physicians were unaware of the coming changes to Medicare reimbursement.

New findings from Medscape as reported by HealthcareDive indicate that, despite all the sound and fury surrounding the agency's announcements of the proposed and final rule, roughly half of the nation’s physicians remain relatively uninformed about MACRA. Of the 282 respondents in the survey, 39.2 percent claimed little knowledge about MACRA, and 28.6 percent had not heard of the rule at all.

Even fewer doctors showed much awareness of the default track for complying with the quality reporting requirements of the new law, the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Among respondents, the publication reported that 40.2 percent knew nothing at all about MIPS, while another 34.9 percent had at least heard of the program, but indicated they knew little about it. CMS

Comments from respondents who were aware of the law suggested deep concerns about its complexity, its financial impact on practices and how it might affect doctor-patient relationships. Some comments reportedly indicated physicians were frustrated enough to “leave patient care or opt out and operate a cash practice.”