Involving doctors can help improve US healthcare

by admin on 01/04/2018 5:05 AM

Front Line of Healthcare Report 2017: Why involving doctors can help improve US healthcare

Bain report | May 11, 2017

By Tim van Biesen, Josh Weisbrod, Michael Brookshire, Julie Coffman and Andy Pasternak

Executive summary

The US healthcare industry is still in search of a cure—a breakthrough model that can deliver high-quality care at lower cost. Over the past five years, hospitals, healthcare groups and medical practices have adopted new management structures and systems to curb spiraling costs. But none has proven to be a compelling way forward, and the pace of change since 2015 has slowed substantially.

Bain’s 2017 US Front Line of Healthcare Survey reflects an industry in the crosscurrents of change. No disruptive innovation has altered the rules of the game in healthcare the way online retail banking has transformed the financial services market or technology has upended other industries. Finding a better model in healthcare will take more time—and physicians want a hands-on role shaping it. 

Healthcare

Steeped in a field that requires lifelong learning, many physicians are natural innovators and quick to test new systems and tools. But they staunchly resist new approaches that could put patient care at risk. That helps explain why management-led organizations that have not fully embraced physician input, for example, have run into resistance or have failed to make a greater impact. The US healthcare model remains firmly centered on physicians.

In fact, more than 60% of the physicians we surveyed believe it will become more difficult to deliver high-quality care in the next two years as they struggle to cope with a complex regulatory environment, increasing administrative burdens and a more difficult reimbursement landscape. After years of experimentation, physicians now want evidence that new models for care management, reimbursement, policy and patient engagement will actually improve clinical outcomes. Without it, they see little reason to alter the status quo and move toward wide-spread adoption.

Is there a way forward? Our survey findings indicate that bringing physicians back into the decision-making process helps create greater momentum for change. Physicians who are not aligned and engaged with their organizations have more reasons to resist new structures and systems, such as value-based payment models. By contrast, those who have a say in management decisions are much more satisfied with their working environment and more willing to lead change. . .

We conducted the research for this report, our third US Front Line of Healthcare Survey, in a time of many open questions about the future of the Affordable Care Act, drug pricing and other regulations. However, the trends and business insights based on the data are likely to hold up under a broad range of policy outcomes. Our research focused not on how healthcare is funded, but on physicians’ and administrators’ priorities in care delivery—and the critical question of who has decision-making authority in the evolving healthcare system.

Read the entire report at http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/front-line-of-healthcare-report-2017.aspx

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