Susan Goold is Senior Author in newly published JAMA article
Susan Goold is the senior author in a newly published study in JAMA, in which 2,500 U. S. physicians were asked about their views on 17 specific strategies to reduce health care spending, including proposed policies in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. They were also surveyed on their perceived roles and responsibilities in addressing health care costs as care providers.
The vast majority of U.S. physicians (85 percent) agreed that trying to contain costs was a responsibility of every physician but most respondents prioritized patients’ best interests over cost concerns. Most surveyed physicians supported cost-containment initiatives aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of care, such as promoting chronic disease care coordination and limiting corporate influence on physician behavior. Substantial financing reforms, however, were much less popular among physicians. Examples include bundled payments, penalties for readmissions, eliminating fee-for-service reimbursement and other Medicare pay cuts. Physicians also believed that patients, pharmaceutical companies, and malpractice lawyers shared as much or more of the responsibility for containing escalating healthcare costs.
Jon C. Tilburt, M.D., M.P.H., of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., was lead author of the study.