Under President Obama’s healthcare reform law, CMS must use a value-based payment modifier for some physicians beginning in 2015, with the long-term goal of applying the payment modifier to all physicians beginning in 2017. However, the agency plans to begin measuring physicians’ cost-efficiency and quality performance in 2013 as a basis for how payments will be adjusted in 2015, according to the report.
CMS’ plan for early implementation of the value-based purchasing program has drawn fire from numerous physician associations, including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Family Physicians.
AMA President Peter W. Carmel, MD, said in a statement that the association cannot support “an already inadequate preparation period” or any value-based payment modifier “until there is evidence that it is possible to accurately measure value without penalizing those physicians who treat the most difficult cases.”
Meanwhile, medical associations are criticizing other provisions under CMS’ proposed 2012 fee schedule, which includes plans for the value-based payment modifier. For instance, CMS has proposed expanding its payment reduction policy for physicians interpreting multiple medical images for the same patient on the same day. The American College of Radiology and others have expressed disagreement with CMS’ “across-the-board reductions,” according to the report.
Related Articles on CMS’ Value-Based Purchasing Program:
Value-Based Purchasing Requires Behavior-Based Hiring
AHA: Value-Based Purchasing Programs Fail to Meet Requirements Set Forth by ACA
CMS’ Value-Based Purchasing Forum: The Time is Now to Shift to Quality Outcomes
