The ISMA is joining the AMA, other state medical societies and national specialty societies in endorsing a set of principles to guide the AMA’s advocacy efforts on Medicare physician payment reform. 

The document, titled “Characteristics of a Rational Medicare Physician Payment System,” represents the first steps toward developing and proposing “substantial changes to the payment system to improve the financial viability of physician practices and ease its administrative burdens,” the AMA said in an email.

Core principles addressed in the document include ensuring financial stability and predictability, promoting value-based care, and safeguarding access to high-quality care. Action-based steps for achieving these goals are listed, as well.

“Notably, the current payment system has failed for decades to recognize increases in practice costs and, as a result, the system is woefully underfunded,” the AMA said in an email. “In the coming months, recommendations for addressing this and other system flaws will be refined and shared.”

Read “Characteristics of a Rational Medicare Physician Payment System”