US Healthcare adapting to Reforms: Hospitals to Ease Physician Shortages

The health reforms have affected every aspect of the health care delivery system in the United States and smaller and solo practices in the country are finding it difficult to cope with the changes on almost every level of health care delivery. The changes in health IT sector, policies in government intervention, and changing reimbursement models are making it difficult for solo and small practices to cope with all these changes financially as well as functionally. Physicians as one of the options are turning towards hospitals and large group practices for better job prospects with reduced amount of responsibility.

The challenges faced by small and solo practices are not just limited to the core aspects of health care delivery. These challenges can range from functional impairments, workflow redesigns and other financial factors. The amount of work required to comply with the health reform guidelines is not just limited to implementation of EMRs and EHRs and ‘Meaningful Use’ objectives but also entails numerous other responsibilities in the form of maintenance of such EHR systems and changes in various departmental processes that are essential for boosting revenues. Increasingly physicians are struggling to find a holistic approach towards the practice and succeed due to the new reform guidelines that are complex and exhaustive in nature.

Hospitals are also taking steps in order to boost the revenue and streamline various processes by forming tie-ups with other group of physicians and hospitals. This not only encourages innovation but also cuts costs and saves time. This can also be a solution for reducing the shortages of physicians by giving an opportunity to those physicians who would have failed in Meaningful Use implementation or had decided to stop practicing due to the complex guidelines of the health reforms. Moreover, the implementation of successful Meaningful Use is carried by more physicians since they have the support of hospitals and larger clinics to comply with reform guidelines.

Due to the many reasons cited above, hospitals are starting to recruit physicians who are finding it very challenging to cope with the recent changes in the health industry. This can obviously help in relieving the pressures in big and medium sized hospitals and give an opportunity for better health outcomes. Such services backed up by departmental processes such as medical billing and coding, revenue cycle management, better accounts receivable handling, active interaction with payers offered by www.medicalbillersandcoders.com can assist any hospital in properly handing the financial side of the health care delivery.