Although 44% of health plan executives surveyed believe primary care physicians have the tools needed to succeed in a value-based care system, only 29% of physicians agreed.
Physicians and health plan executives have very different perceptions of value-based care, from the barriers to implementing it, to its importance to the health system.
They even differ on whether physicians have the tools they need to make value-based care succeed.
These findings are the result of a study, commissioned by Quest Diagnostics and tech company Inovalon. Researchers surveyed 300 primary care physicians employed in private practice, but affiliated with a hospital. Researchers also polled150 health plan executives.
The study also found a discrepancy between physicians and health plan executives in their perception of value-based care.
According to the survey, 57% of health plan executives believed the United States healthcare system should be a value-based model (versus fee-for-service or some other approach), compared to just 33% of physicians.
And although 44% of health plan executives believed that physicians have the tools needed to succeed in a value-based care system, only 29% of physicians agreed. Nearly half (48%) of all respondents disagreed or said theyweren't sure.
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In addition, 87% of all respondents said that it's very important (26%) or extremely important (61%) to have access to all of a patient's medical records.
Yet, 65% of physicians said they do not have all the healthcare information they need about their patients. In addition, only 36% of physicians said they're satisfied with access they have to patient data within their existing workflows.
The survey data "reveals that complexity and incomplete access to patient information may be greater obstacles to adoption than previously realized," said Harvey M. Kaufman, MD, in a media statement. Kaufman is senior medical director at Quest Diagnostics.
Limitations to having better information include: "patients can have many physicians [who] may not share information across EHRs or other channels" (78%), "lack of interoperability" (74%) and "no way to integrate into current workflow" (37%).
There is some common ground between physicians and health plan executives on the matter of quality measures.
The majority (75%) of respondents agree that "quality measures are too complex, and this makes it difficult for physicians to achieve them."
Also, only 54% of all respondents agree that "it's clear to physicians which quality measures apply to their individual patients under relevant value-based care models."