Administrative work is the bane of primary care practice, with 95 percent reporting an increase in paperwork over the last 3 years. There are a variety of policy solutions, ranging from single-payer to eliminating fee-for-service.

I agree with Bob Doherty that incremental improvements will be the most realistic option, rather than a wholesale system change. Increasing the adoption of electronic records may help, depending on the commitment doctors have in embracing the technology. Systems that simply scan in paper charts or dictated notes are not utilizing the full potential of an EMR.

I also like the idea of insurers standardizing their forms, like those involving credentialing or pre-authorization for instance, to a universal format. This however, would be a Herculean task given the number of insurers a typical primary care practice accepts. A single-payer won’t be the answer either, since the de facto single-payer for the elderly, Medicare, by itself generates as much administrative work as any private insurer.

topics: paperwork, administrative