A gathering storm of federal regulations, Op-ed from AMEDnews.com

Overlapping and sometimes conflicting requirements on physicians will prove overwhelming to many practices unless they are changed.

Editorial. Posted April 30, 2012.

A storm is brewing, and many physicians are worried that they won’t be able to batten down the hatches in time.

Physicians are right in the center of the paths of multiple, colliding fronts in the form of more federal requirements, in particular under the Medicare program. The sheer size and timing of the increased regulatory burdens are raising serious concerns that some practices will founder when those rules hit them.

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Preparing for just one of these new requirements is a significant undertaking for a physician practice, especially a small one. Upcoming requirements that doctors adopt and use electronic health records systems, prescribe medications electronically, report quality information to the government, and upgrade their claims reporting systems each demand significant time and resources that are hard to come by for many practices.

But what will happen when these requirements all kick in at about the same time? Physicians and their staffs will be struggling to meet overlapping deadlines, tackle implementation problems that arise and resolve conflicts among mandates that in some cases were authorized under different pieces of legislation. They will be doing all of that while worrying about the next scheduled Medicare pay formula cuts and deep, automatic deficit reduction cuts that are set to slash physician rates even more.
Amid all the complexity and confusion, some physicians might not even realize how soon the trouble might arrive.

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