Physicians, employers and consumers agree the healthcare system requires change — but differ on what changes they think are needed, who should make these changes and the most promising reform efforts, according to a Leavitt Partners report. The survey gathered data from 621 physicians, 538 employers and 5,031 consumers. To ensure the survey accurately represented U.S. demographics, the authors set quotas for gender, race, age, education, income and geography. They also set quotas to ensure the survey represented different types of physicians and health benefit decision-makers from all sectors, industries and sizes of organizations. Here are four things to know about the report. 1. Only 10 percent of physicians think the healthcare system works reasonably well and only minor changes are necessary, while 26 percent of employers and 17 percent of consumers think the system only needs minor changes. 2. Approximately 90 percent of physicians and around 70 percent of employers and consumers think the healthcare system needs fundamental changes or a completely rebuilt system. 3. However, these three groups disagree on what needs to be done to improve the healthcare system. When considering problems with the cost of healthcare, 52 percent of physicians and 54 percent of employers believe better management of heavy care utilizers and behavioral and mental health patients would work well to curb costs. 4. When discussing provider payment reform, employers and physicians place little responsibility on themselves as barriers to this reform, the authors wrote. Physicians are more likely to cite regulatory burden as a major barrier to reform. While 26 percent of employers agree the regulatory burden is too high, an equal number (27 percent) believe providers' unwillingness to participate in payment reform is a significant barrier. Source
