ASAM Signs On to National Study to Document Changes in Physician Practice Expense

As part of a national survey to capture changes in physician practice expenses, ASAM along with 170+ medical societies are supporting an effort led by the American Medical Association (AMA) to collect data to better understand the costs faced by today’s physician practices to support physician payment advocacy. Data collected by the survey will be used to communicate updated information on physicians’ practice expenses to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) and Congress.

The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), promulgated by CMS and used by many other payers, relies on practice expense costs developed almost 20 years ago to develop practice expense relative values, the Medicare Economic Index, and resulting physician payments. However, the US health care and addiction treatment ecosystem has undergone systemic and widespread changes since then that have rendered this information out of date and no longer reflect the resources that are typically required to provide physician services. Data collected from physician practices randomly selected to participate in this survey will be crucial to ensuring that practice expenses are accurately reflected.

If you are contacted by Mathematica, ASAM encourages members to complete the survey to ensure a robust response. Selected participants will receive the Physician Practice Information (PPI) survey email directly from Mathematica. More information can be found here. If you are selected for the survey and have any questions regarding your response, contact Corey Barton, MPH, Director, Advocacy at cbarton@asam.org.