MGMA Podcasts

This episode of the MGMA Weekend Review Podcast is hosted by Daniel Williams and Colleen Luckett. Key topics include HHS reversing course on breach notifications, primary care physician compensation, bipartisan support for healthcare reform, the impact of medical debt, and improving obesity treatment training.

Major Takeaways:
- HHS will now allow Change Healthcare to file breach notifications for organizations affected by the February ransomware attack. This provides relief for impacted groups.
- The AMA payment system favors specialists over primary care doctors, leading to a shortage. Improving primary care compensation could improve outcomes and lower costs. 
- Rare bipartisan support for site neutral payments to address healthcare consolidation and rising costs.
- Medical debt takes a significant toll on patient health through financial stress and avoidance of care. Efforts are needed to reduce costs and debt burdens.
- Improper prescribing of weight loss drugs without training can harm patients. More obesity treatment training is required as drug approvals increase.

Direct Quotes:
"Financial toxicity is a real and growing concern in healthcare. It's crucial that we address the underlying issues driving medical debt to improve patient outcome." - Dr. Ron Robert Ziegler

Sources:
- The Record - "HHS reverses course allows change healthcare to file breach notifications for others"
- MedPage Today - "Second opinions how the AMA undermines primary care"
- Fierce Healthcare - "Site neutral payments draw blanket bipartisan support at House budget hearing"
- Physicians Practice - "Is medical debt making patients sicker?"
- Axios - "America's Doctors need more obesity medicine training"

MGMA Sources:

Let us know if there's a topic you want us to cover, an expert you would like us to interview, or if you'd like to appear on the member spotlight podcast. Email us at dwilliams@mgma.com or cluckett@mgma.com. If you have a question for our senior advisor, Cristy Good, email advisor@mgma.com.

Today’s podcast is sponsored by RingCentral 

RingCentral brings staff, patients, and payers together with compliant cloud communications and a modern call center on any device. A free new ebook from RingCentral and MGMA focuses specifically on the payer-provider relationship. With all-too-familiar patient reviews, must-see statistics, and a transformative case study, this eBook illustrates how easily cloud communications can bring patients, providers, and payers together. Download your copy at go.ringcentral.com/mgma-healthcare.html.

Support for this podcast also comes from ilumed
ilumed helps Medicare providers practice better medicine so they can get paid in up to three ways. Whether you’re just starting your value-based-care journey or ready to take it to the next level, ilumed can help you do more for your patients while earning more. ilumed offers simple solutions for a complicated industry. Let’s heal healthcare together. Visit ilumed.com to learn more.