Advanced Analytics Improve Physician Engagement and Performance in ACOs

Hallmarks of the post-Affordable Care Act era are a significant shift toward value-based and risk-sharing contracts. The leader of the reimbursement pack, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), has moved aggressively in the direction of value-based reimbursement arrangements with providers.

To provide some perspective, in 2011, no Medicare payments were delivered under risk arrangements. In less than five years, Medicare has achieved its target of making 30 percent of payments risk-based and it is on track to meet its goal of 50 percent by 2018.

Payers, too, have embraced risk-sharing contracts with hospitals, physicians and other providers. More than 825 accountable care organizations (ACOs) have been created, and currently are serving 28 million Americans.

Nearly all payers surveyed for a Deloitte 2015 Study of Medicare Advantage Health Plans and Providers said they have some type of value-based arrangements in place.

As a result, payers, hospitals and physicians are more closely aligned with shared goals of improving healthcare quality and cost. All have higher expectations about the ability of data and analytics to help providers guide behavior and decisions that result in shared savings and improved patient health and satisfaction.

More than payers and hospitals, physicians – who are on the frontlines of delivering patient care and therefore are critical to the success of all value-based contracts – have mixed feelings about data and analytics.

Undoubtedly, many physicians have had challenging experiences with electronic health records (EHRs), which have colored their view of technology in healthcare.

In 2015, Geneia conducted a nationwide survey of 400 physicians who practice medicine full time, and found:

• 84 percent of physicians said the amount of quality time they are able to spend with patients has decreased in the last 10 years,

• An overwhelming majority – 87 percent – said that the “business and regulation of healthcare” has changed the practice of medicine for the worse, and

• Overall, the nationwide Physician Misery Index was 3.7 out of 5, indicating that the scales have tipped from satisfaction to misery.

The survey also asked physicians their impression of the impact data and analytics tools have had on medicine.

The results were more positive than expected. Nearly 60 percent, for example, felt data and analytics helped identify and triage the highest-need patients and created greater efficiencies in office workflow.

Physician sentiment towards technology is surprisingly nuanced. Doctors indicated data and analytics tools have the potential to reduce recordkeeping time, one of their primary frustrations, while also contributing to it.

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