Physicians that receive poor reimbursement still don’t drop payers, survey says.

Doctors do not drop bad contracts

In a survey of 20,000 physicians conducted by Medscape found that only 19% of physicians would drop a payer if they were being underpaid. Of the remaining 81% of physicians: 22% said they needed to be participating with all payers, 24% said it was inappropriate to drop a payer contract because of poor payment, and the final 35% noted they would not drop a payer for other reasons. The failure of physicians to drop contracts with poor reimbursement is only backed up by reimbursement shortfalls noted by Medicare and Medicaid.

Poor reimbursement a nationwide problem

According to American Hospital Association, Medicare and Medicaid had a combined reimbursement shortfall of over $68 billion. The cost of care at many locations has outpaced the reimbursement by Medicare and Medicaid. Regardless of this 71% of polled providers said they plan on continuing to accept new Medicare and Medicaid physicians. Only 4% of provider plan on dropping some or all their Medicare or Medicaid patients.

Growing time spent away from patients

With accepting Medicare and Medicaid patients not only comes with low reimbursement, but also an ever-growing amount of paperwork.  In another survey, 38% of physicians said they spend between 10 and 19 hours working on administrative tasks. This time is dwarfed by the 32% that said they spend over 20 hours a week on administrative tasks. The time spent working on administrative task, is taking away from time spent with patients. With a majority of physicians spending only 17 to 24 minutes per patient.

We are here to help

Low reimbursement and rising time spent not treat patients can be a difficult burden for many to handle. However, to make sure your bottom line remains intact Strategic Healthcare Partners can be here to help you. Our contacting services can review your managed care contracts and a we can review your reimbursement rates that you are receiving. If can also recommend a contract strategy that works with you, and your business. Strategic Healthcare Partners works with you, to develop a unique strategy that can help[ your business thrive.

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Source: Most Physicians Will Not Drop Payer Contract Despite Poor Pay. By Jacqueline Belliveau. RevCycle Intelligence, posted 5/15/2018.

To learn more about Strategic Healthcare Partners, and how we can help your business, contact us today!