Whether or not anesthesia practices should implement quality reporting has been a hot topic for several years. One factor that many practices often overlook is how anesthesia quality reporting plays into hospital relations.
Want to know more about whether or not you should implement quality reporting? Download our eBook: What’s the Rush? Anesthesia Quality Reporting.
The Big Picture: Marketing
Some practices believe in the potential clinical benefits of quality reporting. Some practices want to increase their Medicare payments . For some quality reporting is more about marketing… namely maintaining healthy hospital relations.
Hospital Relations
Many hospitals want all their providers to participate in quality schemes for various reasons. If your facilities can be counted in this group, then it may make sense to participate in anesthesia quality reporting – even if it won’t provide a significant direct financial benefit.
Some hospitals want their providers to participate in quality reporting.
The reality is that a provider group that proactively checks all the boxes their hospital administration deems important will have an easier time when it comes to renegotiating their contract. You can call it marketing, PR, or just being a good team player – but being that team player can make all the difference when it comes time to renew your contract.
Contract Negotiation
Remember, contract negotiation is not a one-off adversarial process. Ideally, it is a collaboration between your practice and the hospital to ensure everyone is getting a good deal and patients are receiving high-quality care. Remember, as a hospital-based physician, your success and failure as an anesthesiologist is directly tied to the success of the entire hospital.
Contract negotiations should be a collaborative process looking to get both sides the best deal while providing patients with the best care possible.
Anesthesia Quality Reporting: It’s Truly Up to You
Ultimately, the decision whether you should implement anesthesia quality reporting is up to you and the unique parameters of your anesthesia practice. While some practices find there are financial and partnership benefits to implementing simple quality reporting measures like MIPS, others find that they would prefer to take their time and implement long-term initiatives like perioperative homes, and some just don’t think it’s worth their time. These are all valid positions.
Choosing to implement anesthesia quality reporting is ultimately a decision that should be made based on the factors of the practice.
Contact us if you would like to discuss the pros and cons of implementing an anesthesia quality reporting program for your practice.