Worries over the consequences of value-based payment methodologies in the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) obscure significant improvements the rule makes over the status quo, writes Bob Doherty, senior vice president of Government Affairs and Public Policy at the American College of Physicians, in an article published in MedPage Today.
Since the MACRA proposal's release, the response from doctors and industry groups has included significant anxiety around the negative effect changes in quality care reporting will likely have on small practices. Doherty acknowledges that some degree of trepidation may be understandable based on the types of changes in the proposed law, but he considers declarations that the rules will sound the death knell of private practice "nonsense."
"MACRA offers physicians far more flexibility and choices than what they currently have to put up with," says Doherty. He goes on to list ways in which the proposed law improves over the current state of quality reporting. Here's a sampling:
- In the near term, the penalties associated with falling short on quality measures will decrease. Doherty points out that between now and 2022, MACRA's penalties for failure to meet quality standards remain below the negative 8 percent maximum under the methodologies currently in place.
- Doherty argues that, under MACRA, physicians will see more opportunities to raise their income, via rewards for practicing in certified Patient-Centered Medical Homes or entering Advanced Alternative Payment Models.
- Consolidation of the current systems into a single, more flexible framework should streamline reporting compared to current models, according to Doherty.
To learn more:
- here's the article