Burned out on Documenting your Quality Measures

If you are an employed physician, you will likely be required to submit quality initiative reports on your patients. That’s because your employer is participating in the Merit-based Incentive Payment System otherwise known as MIPS. The funds are distributed from the Quality Payment Program (QPP) regulated by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). If reporting is done properly, this will result in a financial “bonus” to your employer. If inadequate reporting is submitted, this can result in up to a 9% reduction in Medicare claim payments. Since this is a budget neutral program, it essentially amounts to robbing Peter to pay Paul scenario. You as the physician employee are stuck in the middle of all this. A recent study done by Athenahealth, through the ‘Physician Sentiment Survey 2023 – 2024’, shows a 93% of physicians experience burnout frequently. The majority of this burnout is associated with excess documentation and administrative tasks associated with MIPS. An average of 15 hours per week outside of normal business hours are needed to fulfill this requirement. This is valuable ‘personal’ time that the provider misses out on. Another factor adding to this burnout is the requirement by some employers to see 20 – 25 patients per day. In the employed setting there is no escape from this madness. But there are options.

By having a smaller patient panel, the need for MIPS requirements is drastically reduced. The way to achieve this smaller panel is through a micro practice. This allows you to be overhead lean, which means fewer patients are needed for profitability. A micro practice is the wave of the future for primary care that allows for different reimbursement options in order to fund your practice.