Survey: Physicians buried in federal regulations

May 10, 2011

Unfunded mandates, lack of health insurance, standardization and too many incentive programs add costs and inefficiencies to physician practices.

Unfunded mandates, lack of health insurance standardization, and too many incentive programs add costs and inefficiencies to physician practices, according to survey results from the the American Medical Association (AMA).

The AMA sent a letter in April to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services outlining the federal regulations physicians find most burdensome. The list of the most burdensome regulations was obtained through an AMA survey with more than 2,000 responses from physicians and feedback from state and medical specialty societies.

Topping the list of burdens was unfunded mandates such as providing translators for Medicare and Medicaid patients with hearing impairments or limited English language skills. Other burdens included drug plan authorizations, documentation requirements, and competing incentive programs.