PITTSBURGH, March 22, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In the fifth annual Health IT Industry Outlook Survey conducted by Stoltenberg Consulting Inc., a leading healthcare information technology consulting firm, more than half of healthcare providers (64 percent) reported being “unprepared” or “very unprepared” for managing and executing Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) initiatives. The survey arises as the healthcare industry approaches the end of the first quarter in the first-ever MACRA reporting year.

“Many felt MACRA would be delayed due to its size and enormous financial impact on physician reimbursement in the transition to value-based care,” said Joncé Smith, vice president of revenue cycle management at Stoltenberg Consulting. “MACRA’s quality payment program (QPP) now streamlines and increases provider accountability for quality outcomes and cost reduction, but success under the program will take far more than just passive submission of claim data.”

A majority (68 percent) of participants voiced that preparation and compliance with MACRA should be a combined effort across clinical, financial and IT departments. Additionally, “revising data management/reporting mechanisms to meet new reporting requirements” was deemed the top QPP challenge (31 percent), while “motivating the entire organization to collectively work together to achieve program alignment goals” (29 percent) came close.

The survey was conducted at the 2017 Health Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) annual conference in Orlando. Survey participants represented practice management, project management, director and c-suite roles. IT professionals (53 percent) led survey participation, while executive/C-suite representation (42 percent) followed closely behind.

“Success with MACRA requires a joint effort of IT and departmental resources to successfully combine clinical, financial and operational data,” Smith said. “This effort commands not only a deep technical knowledge of how and where to extract and transform the right data, but also a solid understanding of how to integrate it in such a way that the resulting data demonstrates that an organization meets objective criteria for its chosen reporting path.”

For a complete look at the 2017 survey results, please download the report or visit www.stoltenberg.com.

About Stoltenberg Consulting

Founded in 1995, Pittsburgh-based Stoltenberg Consulting, Inc., provides healthcare organizations with a variety of information technology and business consulting services including system selection, project management, implementation support, legacy and help desk support, optimization and integration between systems. Stoltenberg consultants, averaging 15 years of experience, hold skills in both financial and clinical systems, offering expertise for Cerner/Siemens, Epic, Meditech, NextGen, Allscripts and McKesson customers. For more information call (412) 854-5688 or visit www.stoltenberg.com.