Goodbye, Sustainable Growth Rate—Hello, Merit-Based Incentive Payment System
Authors: Robert B. Doherty
Journal: Annals of Internal Medicine (2015)

Ideas and Opinions21 July 2015Goodbye, Sustainable Growth Rate—Hello, Merit-Based Incentive Payment SystemRobert B. Doherty, BARobert B. Doherty, BAFrom the American College of Physicians, Washington, DC.Author, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/M15-0992 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail After years of haunting physicians with the specter of scheduled Medicare payment cuts, the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula has been put to rest. On 16 April 2015, President Obama signed the Medicare Access and Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which, in addition to repealing the SGR, put in motion policies to transform physician payments from a system that rewards volume to one that recognizes value. Congress established the SGR in 1997 to ensure that annual payment increases did not exceed growth in the overall economy, as measured by per capita gross domestic product. The inherent mismatch between ...References1. McClellan M, Berenson R, Chernew M, Kramer W, Lansky D, Milstein A. Health Policy Issue Brief: Medicare Physician Payment Reform: Securing Connection Between Value and Payment. Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution; 2015. Accessed at www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2015/01/012715-medicare-physician-payment-refom-web.pdf on 24 April 2015. Google Scholar2. Reschovsky JD, Converse L, Rich EC. Solving the sustainable growth rate formula conundrum continues steps toward cost savings and care improvements. Health Aff (Millwood). 2015;34:689-96. [PMID: 25761693] doi:10.1377/hlthaff.2014.1429 CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: From the American College of Physicians, Washington, DC.Acknowledgment: The author thanks Shari M. Erickson, MPH, and Kolton Gustafson.Disclosures: Disclosures can be viewed at www.acponline.org/authors/icmje/ConflictOfInterestForms.do?msNum=M15-0992.Corresponding Author: Robert B. Doherty, BA, American College of Physicians, 25 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 700, Washington, DC 20001.Author Contributions:Conception and design: R.B. Doherty.Analysis and interpretation of the data: R.B. Doherty.Drafting of the article: R.B. Doherty.Critical revision of the article for important intellectual content: R.B. Doherty.Final approval of the article: R.B. Doherty.Administrative, technical, or logistic support: R.B. Doherty.Collection and assembly of data: R.B. Doherty.This article was published online first at www.annals.org on 12 May 2015. 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