As predicted, 2014 was indeed a busy year for physician practices. A recent post from the American Medical Association's (AMA) AMA Wire narrowed down a list of the most significant matters affecting providers over the past year. FiercePracticeManagement covered these trends closely and will continue to do so in the year to come:
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Progress toward SGR repeal. Although Congress passed over its most recent chance to repeal the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, the AMA noted that both chambers and parties worked together in unprecedented ways to create policy changes that may eventually improve current law.
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Prescription painkiller abuse. The opioid crisis continues to afflict physicians and addicted patients on a daily basis, but both attention to the problem and development of potential solutions have expanded considerably.
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Evolution of the Sunshine Act. The Physician Payment Sunshine Act (or Open Payments program) has been thorough its share of glitches, but again, industry focus on the problem of physician-industry conflicts of interest has led physicians and practices to change the way they approach and disclose financial relationships that could bias clinical decision-making.
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Regulatory overload. As experts from the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) relayed in October, practices have been swamped with regulatory requirements including the Sunshine Act, Medicare's Value Based Modifier, Meaningful Use and more. Thus, the MGMA, the AMA and other physician groups will continue to urge policymakers to address the potential for these requirements to cause the industry more harm than good.
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Ebola. There's little match for the Ebola outbreak in terms of scope and urgent challenges faced by healthcare providers around the world. U.S. physician practices have used the crisis as an opportunity to increase their preparedness for handling disasters of the most unexpected proportions.
To learn more:
- read the announcement