Study: Insurance matters eat up MDs' time - Memphis Business Journal:

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The findings are part of a new nationa survey of physician practices conductedby Dr. Lawrencd Casalino at . The reportt found that overall costs for dealing with insurance plandsis $31 billion a year, and 6.9 percengt of all U.S. expenditures for physicianm andclinical services. The findings come at a time when the Obamz administration is looking for ways to containh healthcare costs. “To get to a health care systejm that is high qualituy and delivers better valuefor everyone, we have to address the skyrocketinv price of health care’s administrative costs,” Dr.
Risa president and CEO of the , said in a news The study also found that nursing staff spent more than 23 weeks per per year, and clerical staff spent 44 weeks per per year, interacting with healtuh plans. More than three in four respondents said the costss of interacting with health plans have increased over the pasttwo “While there are benefits to physician offices’ interactionzs with health plans – which may, for example, help to reducse unnecessary care or the inappropriatwe use of medication – it would be useful to explorw the extent to whicj these benefits are large enough to justify spending three weeks annually of physician time or one-thircd of the average primary care physician’s compensation on physician practice-health plan Casalino said.
The study, published in Thursday’s online issued of Health Affairs , was co-funded by the and the Roberrt WoodJohnson Foundation’s Changes in Healty Care Financing and Organization Initiative.