CMS aims to reduce physician burden ahead of final MACRA rule

Ahead of the release of the final rule overhauling Medicare reimbursement, CMS has announced a permanent initiative to reduce the burden of administrative work on physicians.

CMS said “senior physicians” within the agency will review regulations and policies, aiming to minimize how much time doctors have to spend on tasks beyond seeing patients.

“Physicians and their care teams are the most vital resource a patient has. As we implement the Quality Payment Program under MACRA, we cannot do it without making a sustained, long-term commitment to take a holistic view on the demands on the physician and clinician workforce,” CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt, said. “The new initiative will launch a nationwide effort to work with the clinician community to improve Medicare regulations, policies, and interaction points to address issues and to help get physicians back to the most important thing they do – taking care of patients.”

Deputy Administrator Shantanu Agrawal, MD, will lead the development of the initiative, focusing first on documentation requirements and how physicians already interact with CMS. The agency will also conduct local meetings at each of its ten regional offices within the next six month to hear from providers.

To begin the initiative, CMS also announced certain physicians would get some relief from administrative work in a new Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization (MACRA) payment track.

As part of an 18-month pilot program, there will be reduced medical reviews for providers within specified Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs) practices.

“Advanced APMs were identified as a potential opportunity for this pilot because participating clinicians share financial risk with the Medicare program,” CMS said. “Two-sided risk models provide powerful motivation to deliver care in the most efficient manner possible, greatly reducing the risk of improper billing of services. After the results of the pilot are analyzed, CMS will consider expansion along various dimensions including additional Advanced APMs, specialties, and provider types.”

The early response to the initiatives was positive. Lyell Jones, MD, director of the residency program at the Mayo Clinic, tweeted that moves to remove physician documentation like this “must work for MACRA/QPP to succeed.”