In 2014, the 53rd Annual Emery A. Rovenstine Memorial Lecture titled “Health Care at the Crossroads: The Imperative for Change” warned anesthesiologists about soon-to-come innovations in reimbursement by health care payers. In 2017, the “time is now” as these innovations will be affecting nearly every anesthesiologist in the U.S.!
2017 will be a year of transformational change for physician reimbursement, as the new provisions of MACRA (Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act) begin to take effect: positive and negative Medicare payment updates based upon performance on quality metrics, cost and value in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) that will apply to most anesthesiology groups. In addition to the federal government, purchasers of health care (business and insurance plans) are increasingly requiring demonstration of metrics of quality and value in the assessment of whether to include your group and hospital in their plans. While many large and mega-group practices are...
