ACS Supports National Study to Document Changes in Physician Practice Expense

The American Medical Association (AMA) is undertaking a new national study, supported by the ACS and 172 other healthcare organizations, to collect data on physician practice expenses (PE). The aim of the Physician Practice Information Survey is to better understand the costs faced by today’s practices to support physician payment advocacy. The study is intended to serve as an opportunity for communicating accurate financial information to policymakers, including members of Congress and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

The Medicare physician payment schedule, maintained by CMS and used by many other payers, relies on 2006 cost information to develop PE relative values and physician reimbursement rates. As the US economy and healthcare system have undergone substantial changes since that time, including inflation and the wide-spread adoption of electronic health records and other information technology systems, PE payments no longer accurately reflect the relative resources that are typically required to provide physician services.

Thousands of individual physicians across the country will receive a short online patient care hours survey from either their practice or from Mathematica, with whom the AMA has contracted for this survey. The input from physicians and their practices that are randomly selected to participate in this study is critical to help ensure that PE and patient care hours are accurately reflected in the methodologies used by insurers for determining physician payment rates.

If you receive this survey and have any questions, contact Lauren Foe, ACS Senior Associate for Regulatory Affairs, at lfoe@facs.org.