'Medicare Done Right,' explained: A conversation with Susan Dentzer, president and CEO of America's Physician Groups

What would it take to get Medicare "done right?" Medical Economics sat down with Susan Dentzer, the president and CEO of America's Physician Groups (APG), to walk through the biggest flaws in Medicare today — and the bold, evidence-backed changes APG says could transform the system for physicians and patients alike.

Drawing on insights from APG's latest report, "Medicare Done Right," Dentzer outlines a roadmap to improve both traditional Medicare and Medicare Advantage (MA). She explains why current payment models are failing physicians, how fragmented care drives up costs and what it truly means to put patients in "accountable relationships" with their health care providers.

That starts with building stronger, better-resourced primary care — and ensuring practices have the tools and flexibility they need to keep patients healthy and out of the hospital.

Dentzer makes the case for overhauling outdated policies like MIPS, restoring incentives for value-based care (VBC), and tackling workforce shortages with permanent payment updates to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. She also addresses concerns from smaller and independent practices about two-sided risk models and shares how delegated MA arrangements can provide a sustainable path forward — if designed well.

Above all, Dentzer calls for a better public understanding of — and a more nuanced conversation around — MA itself.

"It's not monolithic," she says. "There are models of MA that work much better ... and we've got to build on the aspects of it that are better."

For more, listen to our full conversation with Susan Dentzer on episode 72 of our Off the Chart: A Business of Medicine Podcast.