Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office of Health Reform, and colleagues listed 10 ways they believe the healthcare reform law would reshape the practice of medicine in an article in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
"The most successful physicians will be those who most effectively collaborate with other providers to improve outcomes, care productivity and patient experience," wrote the team, whose other members were Robert Kocher, MD, and Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD.
They acknowledged that Congress' failure to pass a permanent physician fee fix may make it more difficult for physicians to accept the reforms. "The uncertainty surrounding the sustainable growth rate policy is a distraction and potentially a barrier for some physicians to embrace the Affordable Care Act," they wrote.
Here are the 10 ways.
1. Focus care around exceptional patient experience and shared clinical outcome goals.
2. Expand use of electronic medical records with capacity for drug reconciliation, guidelines, alerts and other decision supports.
3. Include non-physician providers, such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, care coordinators and dietitians.
4. Establish patient care teams to take part in bundled payments and incentive programs, such as accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical homes.
5. Proactively manage preventive care by reaching out to patients so that they get recommended tests and follow-up interventions.
6. Collaborate with hospitals to reduce readmissions and hospital-acquired infections.
7. Hold shared decision-making discussions on treatment goals and approaches.
8. Redesign medical office processes to find savings from administrative simplification.
9. Develop approaches to engage and monitor patients outside of the office, such as electronic data collection, home visits and use of other team members.
10. Incorporate patient-centered outcomes research to fashion care for specific patient populations.
Read the Annals of Internal Medicine report on healthcare reform.
Read other coverage on healthcare reform:
- Most Physicians Didn't Agree With AMA on Proposed Health Reform Expansions
- 8 New Taxes Coming From ObamaCare
- Pro-Reform Lobbyists Redrafting Message as Polls Show Increasing Interest as Election Issue
"The most successful physicians will be those who most effectively collaborate with other providers to improve outcomes, care productivity and patient experience," wrote the team, whose other members were Robert Kocher, MD, and Ezekiel J. Emanuel, MD.
They acknowledged that Congress' failure to pass a permanent physician fee fix may make it more difficult for physicians to accept the reforms. "The uncertainty surrounding the sustainable growth rate policy is a distraction and potentially a barrier for some physicians to embrace the Affordable Care Act," they wrote.
Here are the 10 ways.
1. Focus care around exceptional patient experience and shared clinical outcome goals.
2. Expand use of electronic medical records with capacity for drug reconciliation, guidelines, alerts and other decision supports.
3. Include non-physician providers, such as nurse practitioners, physician assistants, care coordinators and dietitians.
4. Establish patient care teams to take part in bundled payments and incentive programs, such as accountable care organizations and patient-centered medical homes.
5. Proactively manage preventive care by reaching out to patients so that they get recommended tests and follow-up interventions.
6. Collaborate with hospitals to reduce readmissions and hospital-acquired infections.
7. Hold shared decision-making discussions on treatment goals and approaches.
8. Redesign medical office processes to find savings from administrative simplification.
9. Develop approaches to engage and monitor patients outside of the office, such as electronic data collection, home visits and use of other team members.
10. Incorporate patient-centered outcomes research to fashion care for specific patient populations.
Read the Annals of Internal Medicine report on healthcare reform.
Read other coverage on healthcare reform:
- Most Physicians Didn't Agree With AMA on Proposed Health Reform Expansions
- 8 New Taxes Coming From ObamaCare
- Pro-Reform Lobbyists Redrafting Message as Polls Show Increasing Interest as Election Issue