The American College of Physicians has proposed new policy recommendations to reform Medicare, Medicaid, S-CHIP and other programs. Stating that primary care medicine is on the brink of collapse in the United States with too few new physicians going into the field, the ACP is advocating a patient-centered healthcare system that it says will result in better quality, more efficient use of resources, reduced utilization, and higher patient satisfaction.
In this new model, patients would receive “longitudinal” and comprehensive care by a personal physician who is responsible and accountable for managing the care of the whole patient. It also depends heavily on health information and other system improvements to enhance access to care, provide evidence-based guidelines at the point of care, allow physicians to follow up on recommended treatments and patient self-management plans, and to measure and report on the quality of care. The ACP emphasized that patient-centered care should be available to all Americans, not just those who are insured.
The group also released nine recommendations to reform current Medicare physician payment and delivery systems. They include paying physicians on a risk-adjusted, bundled, and prospective basis for providing patient-centered care through a qualified medical home instead of paying doctors solely on the volume of services billed. The ACP also proposes an alternative to Medicare’s sustainable growth rate formula that will stabilize payments and create incentives for physician participation in programs that will result in quality improvements and cost savings.
