Dive Brief: The American Academy of Family Physicians is calling on the federal government to reduce regulatory and administrative burdens on doctors, including by standardizing authorization forms across payers. In a Feb. 7 letter to CMS Administrator Seema Verma and Don Rucker, national coordinator for health IT, the group called the current regulatory framework with which physicians must comply “daunting and often demoralizing.” AAFP laid out seven principles to help simplify requirements and administrative workload. Dive Insight: Study after study has shown physician burnout to be a huge problem, and the leading cause is the time required for administrative tasks. A study in the Annals of Family Medicine last year found physicians spend nearly six hours a day interacting with EHRs, spilling over into after-clinic hours. A 2016 study in the journal found doctors spend just under half their workday on EHRs and administrative tasks and only 27% of their time seeing … [Read more...] about Rules, paperwork burdens ‘untenable’ for family physicians, report says
Quality family physicians
Rules, paperwork burdens ‘untenable’ for family physicians: report
Dive Brief: The American Academy of Family Physicians is calling on the federal government to reduce regulatory and administrative burdens on doctors, including by standardizing authorization forms across payers. In a Feb. 7 letter to CMS Administrator Seema Verma and Don Rucker, national coordinator for health IT, the group called the current regulatory framework with which physicians must comply “daunting and often demoralizing.” AAFP laid out seven principles to help simplify requirements and administrative workload. Dive Insight: Study after study has shown physician burnout to be a huge problem, and the leading cause is the time required for administrative tasks. A study in the Annals of Family Medicine last year found physicians spend nearly six hours a day interacting with EHRs, spilling over into after-clinic hours. A 2016 study in the journal found doctors spend just under half their workday on EHRs and administrative tasks and only 27% of their time seeing … [Read more...] about Rules, paperwork burdens ‘untenable’ for family physicians: report
Family physicians warming to value-based payments, but barriers remain
Dive Brief: More than half of family physicians are participating in value-based payment models, and half of those surveyed believe value-based payments will lead to greater collaboration between primary care physicians and specialists. The 2017 Value-Based Payment Study released by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and Humana found that value-based payments “based on achieving quality and/or outcome measures” have more than doubled since the last study two years ago. The study found 37% of value-based payments are based on quality and/or outcomes compared to 18% two years ago. Care coordination is also more common than two years ago. Thirty-two percent of physicians surveyed said they provide “ongoing care management/coordination” to high-risk patients. That’s an increase from 23% in 2015. Dive Insight: As part of value-based models, more physicians are hiring care management and care coordinators. One-third of surveyed … [Read more...] about Family physicians warming to value-based payments, but barriers remain
CMS grants quality penalty relief due to ICD-10 snafu
Dive Brief: CMS will not apply the 2017 or 2018 penalties to eligible healthcare professionals or practice groups just for failing to meet requirements under the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) in 2016, according to the agency's website. ICD-10 code sets, which are sometimes included in quality measure specifications, experienced "an extended freeze" during an update process transitioning from ICD-9, the agency stated. After assessing the impact this would have on quality reporting, CMS determined it would hinder its "ability to process data reported on certain quality measures for the 4th quarter of CY 2016." Dive Insight: Penalties are usually a 2% payment reduction of the Medicare physician fee schedule amount for a service. The rollout of ICD-10 had caused a lot of concern in the hospital industry as the number of diagnostic codes was being substantially increased — from approximately 13,000 with ICD-9 to about … [Read more...] about CMS grants quality penalty relief due to ICD-10 snafu
10 Nutrient Dense Foods: It’s About Quality, Not Quantity
You can only eat a certain amount of food per day, so why not try to pack in as many nutrients as possible? Food can be a lot of things – it can be delicious, comforting, or even fun, but its basic purpose is to fuel our bodies. Here are some of the nutrient dense foods that you should be eating on a regular basis. A powerhouse fruit or vegetable is a fruit or vegetable that’s packed with nutrients that are beneficial in preventing chronic disease. The nutrient density of foods was first explored by family physician Dr. Joel Fuhrman. Fuhrman is a nutritional researcher who specializes in developing diets that prevent and reverse the course of disease. According to Fuhrman, we should be stacking our diets with foods that contain the most micronutrients per caloric buck. Hence, the term “nutrient density”. 10 Nutrient Dense Foods We Should Eat More Broccoli Oranges Kale Cabbage Spinach Hemp Seeds Salmon Garlic … [Read more...] about 10 Nutrient Dense Foods: It’s About Quality, Not Quantity