The Repeal and Replace of ObamaCare did not happen … not sure about you, but I have not seen many news headlines inspiring excitement to make you jump up and down. It feels more like the dark cloud never went away and continues to loom over the Healthcare industry. .
This is the time to make decisions and move your private practice forward especially if you accept Medicare. More likely, CMS will begin to circulate the letters they promised indicating which providers are exempt from MACRA and which are not, but be aware: what your records show may not necessarily be what Medicare has. So be on the look out for this letter.
Remember, if your yearly charges to Medicare exceed $30K and you see more than 100 Medicare patients a year you must comply with MACRA to avoid the 4% penalties or get up to 4% increase on your reimbursements from Medicare. Percentages increase every year
Let’s say you barely missed the exemption so your first instinct tells you it is OK to ignore it because the amount of money is not that much. While this may be true, a penalty in MACRA also means poor performance which will be published and made available to the public. Remember, your patients and potential new patients search for doctors online all the time!!!!
Ouch!!!! …. yes, your reputation is also at stake, so wouldn’t you do all you could to avoid a poor performance ranking that could deter new patients or worse, lose the loyal ones?
The possibility of softening MACRA remains. Dr Tom Price, head of HHS has been a strong proponent for softening MACRA. If he is able to do so then more power to all private practices, but what if he is not?
This is a crucial pivot point for every private practice still playing on the sidelines, undecided about MACRA, to take action to protect their revenue and reputation; after all “it’s all about revenue”
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Francisco Guevara | 713-301-4521 | francisco@etekmed.com