- The AMA´s plan is an ambitious but doable roadmap to address major challenges physicians are facing.
- This five-point strategy includes fixing prior authorization, reforming Medicare payment and supporting telehealth.
- AMA´s president stated that by prioritizing and meeting the needs of physicians, patient care would improve as well.
On June 10th, the American Medical Association (AMA) released the “Recovery Plan for America´s Physicians“. This expansive new program focuses on tackling major challenges physicians are facing. Its goal is to ensure physicians´ needs are met- so patients can receive the high-quality care they deserve.
Therefore, this plan focuses on five goals to re-build healthcare, so it works better for physicians and patients:
Fixing Prior Authorization
According to the AMA, prior authorization is an overused, costly, inefficient, opaque and responsible for patient care delays process that presents significant administrative and clinical concerns. The association is taking some steps to reform prior authorization this 2022 such as:
- Working with payers to reduce the overall volume of prior authorizations
- Increasing transparency on requirements
- Promoting automation
- Ensuring timely care for patients
Pre-authorizations (PAs) are a very labor-intensive task for healthcare providers, their staff and patients. Read more about how outsourcing this process can work for your practice on our blog 4 reasons to outsource your prior authorizations process.
Reforming Medicare Payment
The growing financial instability of the Medicare physician payment system is alarming for the healthcare industry. The AMA stated that this payment system is on an unsustainable path threatening patient access to physicians.
For this reason, the AMA and the Federation of Medicine developed a set of principles to guide advocacy efforts on Medicare physician payment reform. This strategy sets broad goals for reforming the system including:
- Ensuring financial stability and predictability.
- Promoting value-based care.
- Safeguarding access to high-quality care.
Fighting scope creep
Stopping scope creep is one of the key areas of the recovery plan. The AMA vigorously defends the practice of medicine against scope of practice expansions that could jeopardize patient safety.
Patients deserve care led by physicians—the most highly educated, trained and skilled health care professionals. For over 30 years, the AMA’s state and federal advocacy efforts have safeguarded the practice of medicine by opposing nonphysician professional attempts to inappropriately expand their scope of practice.
Supporting telehealth
Telehealth is a critical part of the future of healthcare. Therefore, the AMA continues to lead the charge to aggressively expand telehealth policy, research, and resources to ensure physician practice sustainability and fair payment.
Maintaining telehealth coverage and payment is essential to keep physician and patient needs at the forefront of telehealth delivery. Read more about how you can optimize your payments using this healthcare modality on our blog Get paid for telehealth & non-face-to-face visits during COVID-19.
Reducing physician burnout
Burnout has become an epidemic in the healthcare industry. Increased workloads, administrative burdens and the ongoing COVID pandemic have left doctors stressed and exhausted.
The AMA developed resources that prioritize well-being and highlight workflow changes so physicians can focus on what matters–patient care.
Read more about how partnering with an expert can help you relieve this burden on our blog Reversing the burnout crisis: Helping physicians be physicians again.
According to AMA´s President Gerald Harmon, “America’s doctors are a precious and irreplaceable resource”. He also stated that even though the recovery plan is ambitious, it is also doable.
“The AMA is here to be our unified voice to lawmakers and those in positions of power. By prioritizing and meeting the needs of physicians, we also improve patient care”, Harmon explained.
Stay tuned for this and more industry news through our June 2022 newsletter. Subscribe to our monthly newsletter and our Health Prime Blog for ongoing leading industry medical practice articles and policy updates.
