Physicians across the country are still ill-prepared for MACRA, according to a new study from Healthcare Informatics.
The survey includes responses from 2,045 physicians, many of which are still practicing in a fee-for-service environment. The survey found:
1. Twenty percent of physician practices with 15 or fewer physicians report they are ready to meet MACRA requirements. Twenty-eight percent of practices with 16 to 50 physicians report the same.
2. Eighty percent of the physicians in practices with 15 physicians or fewer said they needed help with MACRA or weren't prepared at all. Among practices with 16 to 50 physicians 72 percent said they weren't prepared or needed help.
3. Around half of the physicians in practices with 100 physicians or more reported being fully ready to go; 16 percent of the respondents in 100-plus member groups said they weren't prepared at all.
4. Overall, 70 percent of respondents said they needed help with MACRA or weren't prepared at all.
5. IT companies can offer physicians and practices help with the transition from fee-for-service to value-based payments. "It's important for health IT leaders to get a sense of where clinicians and medical organizations are in terms of understanding the implications of new payment mandates," said Healthcare Informatics Editor-in-Chief Mark Hagland. "The results of this survey confirm that many physicians, particularly those in smaller practices, remain woefully unprepared for the new requirements facing them under MACRA law."