MGMA finds practices cautious about HIX

Medical practices are cautious about the new health insurance exchanges (HIX), with 40 percent of physician practices reporting that they are weighing their options about participation.

The numbers come from research conducted by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). More than 1,000 medical groups in which more than 47,500 physicians practice nationwide participated in the survey. While a majority of MGMA survey respondents see potential opportunities to provide care to an underserved patient population and replace current charity care, more than 80 percent cited concerns about the burden of patient collections on practices and low provider reimbursement rates as major barriers to their participation.

"Medical group practices want to continue to do the right thing and take care of patients, regardless of insurance. It’s troublesome that there is so much uncertainty about [Affordable Care Act] implementation this late in the game," said Susan L. Turney, MD, MGMA president and CEO, in a press release. "Some insurers want practices to sign contracts for less than their current commercial rates, but are unable or unwilling to provide detailed information to physicians about how the exchange products will be administered."  

Most physician groups reported that they do not expect a flood of new patients as a result of the exchanges, with almost 70 percent of respondents expecting no change or only a slight increase to their patient population. More than half of physician practices did not plan to make any business changes and fewer than 5 percent anticipated hiring new physicians, extending business hours or adding clinical support staff. "At least initially, physician practices are taking a cautious approach ... because it’s unclear how many patients will sign up for exchanges in their area, or if practices will even contract to provide care under new exchange insurance products."