Physicians at smaller practices want to see one of their fellow physicians offer some regulatory help to make it easier for them to participate in the new payment tracks under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA).

According to The Hill, smaller practices wish to see HHS Secretary Tom Price, MD, make tweaks that ease the reporting burden and open up more pathways to advanced alternative payment models (APMs) so those doctors can stay out of the more data-intensive Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).

“What’s going to be interesting to see is how this administration squares Dr. Price’s view of caution in moving toward those models with the law as directed, and goal of moving toward risk-bearing arrangements,” said Peter Fise, a senior policy analyst with the Bipartisan Policy Center. “Some of that may operate outside of the actual rule itself, but in the past you’ve seen CMS fold major model announcements and policy changes into a rule like this.”

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