We recently discussed the impact of all of the changes going on with payment models on the providers. We discussed that the evolution to payment models that reimburse for quality and outcomes rather than volume of visits and procedures will have significant impact on the providers. This is no trivial change! Physicians have practiced the same way for thousands of years. Patients with medical issues come to them and receive care. Now, they have to take on a whole new set of activities. They need to make sure that the patients take their medications so they can achieve their treatment goals. They need to make sure patients follow lifestyle instructions so their chronic diseases don’t deteriorate, resulting in bad outcomes. How could they possibly take this on and continue to see patients? if anything, with all of the new insured people, physicians will need to see more patients.

The answer is that in order for physicians to achieve these goals, they need to go to new models of care. This means that they will need to start leveraging a team supporting them far more effectively. They need to use technology to get more done with the same resources. Their practice patterns need to shift to incorporate new tools to get to better results.

Early experience suggests that although there is some movement in this direction by the providers, it’s slow going. Many of the physicians are close to retirement and are not interested in turning their practices upside down. Younger physicians are worried about the impact on their bottom lines during the transition and are proceeding cautiously. What is clear is that the solo and smaller practices will have a much tougher time with this. That’s because they have more limited resources to embark on this journey. That’s why more and more of them are open to selling their practices or forming partnerships with institutions.