FP Report -- November 1998 You asked for it, you got it
HCFA team tackles regulatory burden
Responding in part to AAFP pressure, the Health Care Financing Administration re-cently announced the formation of an internal team to study physicians' regulatory burden.
A little background: The 1997 Congress of Delegates urged the Academy to work with appropriate government agencies and other organizations to develop reasonable and simplified paperwork for nursing home care, durable medical equipment and other areas.
Subsequently, at the recommendation of the Commission on Health Care Services, the AAFP Board chair issued an appeal to HCFA for some relief. "Family physicians are being overwhelmed by the paperwork and procedural hassles associated with coordinating the care of their patients in various settings outside the office," said then-Chair Patrick Harr, M.D., of Maryville, Mo.
At the Academy's urging, HCFA put the issue on the Sept. 28 meeting agenda of its Practicing Physicians Advisory Council, which advises Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala, Ph.D., on the impact of proposed regulations and implemented policies.
Physicians at the meeting expressed support for a study of their regulatory burden and said they hoped to be part of the process.
HCFA's new team will be led by family physician Steve Gleason, D.O., of Des Moines, Iowa, who serves on the HCFA administrator's executive council of advisors. Gleason welcomes input from the Academy, so AAFP committees and commissions will work with staff to develop a list of burdensome, duplicative or otherwise unnecessary regulatory requirements to be shared with Gleason's team.
The team ultimately hopes to produce a compliance manual or another method to reduce the regulatory burden.
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department. Copyright © 1998 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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