Value-Based Care News

ACA Support Rising to 55% as Physicians Value Quality Care

By Sara Heath

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) may be growing in popularity amongst healthcare professionals, according to a recent survey conducted by the American Association for Physician Leadership (AALP) and Navigant Center for Healthcare Research and Policy Analysis. The Value of Physician Leadership (VOPL) survey, which included 2,398 respondents from the association, asked questions regarding physician leadership within healthcare facilities.

The survey revealed that nearly 55 percent of respondents feel that ACA has “more good in it than bad.” Ninety-eight percent of these physicians also agree that rising costs of healthcare is an important issue to resolve, and 59 percent are confident in physician leaders resolving the issue.

“As physician leaders come to understand the details of the ACA, they may see it as a less radical set of changes than they originally believed,” says Paul Keckley, PhD, Managing Director of Navigant, in a press release.

The survey shows more than an increased support for the ACA. It also shows that physicians are very concerned with the best interests of their patients when administering care and evaluating different healthcare reforms.

The AALP reports that 69 percent of respondents agree physicians should be held liable for costs of care as well as quality of care. Fifty-seven percent believed accountable care organizations (ACOs) will be the permanent standard for risk-sharing with payers. Sixty-three percent believed value-based payments would be better for quality of care than fee-for-service payments.

What’s causing this higher approval of the ACA?

Leaders within the AALP suggest that higher approval of the ACA is a result of physicians caring for their patients’ well-beings. Seeing the benefits the ACA has for patients and quality of care, physicians are beginning to see the ACA as a good piece of legislation.

“As they review the ACA, I think they resonate with how the good aspects of the bill can improve health care,” says Peter Angood, MD, GACS, FRCS(C), MCCM, President and CEO of the AALP.

It is evident that physicians want the best for patients through other survey findings. For example, 92 percent of respondents agree that transparency about quality care is an important issue. Additionally, 58 percent of physicians agree that transparency about business dealings was an important issue. Increased transparency in both of these areas allows healthcare providers to keep track of the costs of services and treatments, making finances more manageable.

Likewise, 92 percent of respondents agree that it is important that patients adhere to their treatments, decreasing their risk for deteriorating conditions or readmission to the hospital. Not only is this better for patient health, but it is also better for hospital finances as patients need to receive fewer high-cost treatments and fewer are admitted or readmitted into the hospital.

Quality care is a goal in physician practice

The VOPL survey, which also asked questions about physician leadership in a variety of settings, strongly indicated that the primary goal in physician practice and leadership is high quality of care for the patient. For example, 89 percent of respondents agreed that dealing with the shortage of primary care physicians is an important issue. Primary care physicians increase patient well-being by aiding early detection of chronic illness, the management of such illnesses, and hospital admission and readmission. Primary care physicians also decrease the number of hospital visits and therefore reduce hospital spending.

The survey also revealed that 92 percent of physicians found “reducing unnecessary care that is not evidence-based” highly important, showing that physicians value high-quality care for patients rather than high-volume care. By eliminating unnecessary procedures and treatments, healthcare providers also decrease preventable costs.

While physicians agree the ACA has many benefits for the patient, many suggest that it still has its financial impediments. As reported by RevCycleIntelligence.com in March, 58 percent of physicians were opposed to the ACA, citing negative aspects such as lower physician reimbursement, growing patient debt, and the financial and bureaucratic burdens of different ACA requirements.

Going forward, feedback on both the positive aspects of the legislation and the negative aspects is critical in making the proper amendments to the law to continue to ensure quality care for the patient as well as financial stability for the healthcare providers.