While physicians may gripe about the changes being brought on them in the name of healthcare reform, physician executives generally believe that the shift is for the better, according to a new survey.
Monday, the American Association of Physician Leadership and the Navigant Consulting’s Center for Healthcare Research and Policy Analysis released the first of three parts of a report on attitudes of physician leadership, focusing on healthcare reform. Most said that fee-for-service is dying and value-based payment will be the future,
The two surveyed 2,398 physician leaders, including chief medical officers, department chairs and hospital and practice executives, and found that 57 percent expressed the belief that Accountable Care Organizations would be a “permanent model for risk sharing.” About 63 percent disagreed with the statement that value-based reimbursement replacing fee-for-service would “hurt the quality of care provided to patients.”
“The survey results demonstrate an important shift among physician leaders – they recognize the changes in the market and are eager to gain access to tools and training to manage their expanded set of responsibilities,” said Paul Keckley, managing director of the Navigant Center.
As expected in this politically polarized country, opinions were mixed on the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, otherwise known as Obamacare. A narrow majority, 55 percent, agreed that the ACA is “more good than bad.”
“Physicians want what is best for their patients, so as they review the ACA, I think they resonate with how the good aspects of the bill can improve healthcare,” Peter Angood, president and CEO of the American Association of Physician Leadership, said in a press release. The American Association of Physician Leadership was formerly known as the American College of Physician Executives,
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
The next two reports will look at core competencies of physician leadership and views on the shift from fee-for-service to value-based care, the AAPL and Navigant said. Those installments will be released over the next several weeks.
