73% of physician leaders preparing for HHS payment proposal

Healthcare organizations are actively preparing for the Department of Health and Human Services' plan to tie 30 percent of fee-for-service Medicare payments to quality and value by 2016, according to a new survey from the American Association for Physician Leadership. Seventy-three percent of the 656 physician leaders surveyed indicated that they are currently preparing for the new HHS proposal that will tie value-based payments to patient outcomes, compared to only 15 percent who said they are not. Despite the majority of respondents indicating they are preparing for the transition, many physician leaders said in the poll that the HHS goals were overly aggressive. "Yes, we're taking steps, but we're 'light years' away from being ready," one such comment read. Poll results