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AMGA chief presents 5 big issues for 2018

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Jerry Penso, M.D., president and CEO of the American Medical Group Association, laid out in FierceHealthcare five key issues for healthcare leaders this year:

1. “Efficiency will become a top priority. Revenues are flat while expenses continue to rise for most medical providers, so medical groups and health systems must continue to make their practices more efficient. Practices will look for workflow and staffing efficiencies and ways to cut costs that don’t impact the patient experience, access or physician burnout.”

2. “(Addressing) physician burnout will be a strategic imperative. Addressing physician burnout will become a priority in the boardroom as leaders will demand initiatives to stem this epidemic. Many will add burnout metrics to their dashboards. Concerns about the stability of the critical primary care workforce, early retirements and productivity will drive increased attention to personnel issues including physician frustrations with their EHRs, the need for more comprehensive care redesign and the lack of adequate leadership training.”

3. “Competition for convenience will heat up. Patients—especially millennials—will continue to drive the demand for quicker, more accessible options to receive care. Growth in urgent care centers, pharmacy-based care, Uber-like home care delivery and virtual medicine will provide increased ways for patients to bypass hospitals and physician offices. Medical groups and health systems will find new ways to remain competitive in their markets.”

4. “Scope-of-practice issues will become more acute. The underutilization of many healthcare professionals―including pharmacists, nurses, physician assistants or behavioral health specialists―will lead to increased demands to expand their ability to treat patients more autonomously.”.

5. “Practices will form more community partnerships. The move to value-based payment systems and the accountability for an attributed population means that healthcare systems will need to work with community partners to address some of the root causes of poor outcomes and resultant higher costs.”

To read all of Dr. Penso’s remarks, please hit this link.

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