At the MGMA14 event in Las Vegas, the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) revealed the results of a survey it conducted among more than 1,000 physicians on the effectiveness of the reporting programs run by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). A majority of those surveyed said that the programs have not improved quality of service, instead making reporting needlessly complex.

On the plus side, 83 percent of respondents said their organizations have internal programs in place to improve clinical quality, and 77 percent use evidence-based analytical tools for that purpose. But 84 percent said that the three federal programs — EHR Meaningful Use, Physician Quality Reporting System and the Value-Based Payment Modifier Program — do not contribute to improving quality, and 85 percent claimed they had negatively affected productivity due to their complexity.

Physicians believe that the inefficiency of the reporting programs affects not just quality of care but the overall operations of health care centers, using up the staff’s valuable time. Most agreed that the CMS should consolidate the three programs to streamline the reporting process and eliminate redundancies.

“Medicare has lost focus with its physician quality reporting programs,” said MGMA vice president of government affairs Anders Gilberg. “Instead of providing timely, meaningful and actionable information to help physicians treat patients, this has become a massive bureaucratic reporting exercise. Each program has its own set of arcane and duplicative rules which force physician practices to divert resources away from patient care.”

Until the CMS enacts changes, health care providers can institute data management solutions that will help them reduce the amount of staff time spent on the reporting process.