MGMA Week in Review: AI Trends in Medical Practices, Virtual Care Growth, and Medicaid Cuts

In this episode of the MGMA Weekend Review, hosts Daniel Williams and Colleen Luckett discuss major trends affecting independent medical practices, including the rise of AI tools that lessen administrative burdens and combat physician burnout. Additionally, they explore the potential impacts of the U.S. House's recently passed Medicaid cuts, urging listeners to stay informed and advocate for their needs.

00:50 Introduction and Weekly Catch-Up

02:09 AI in Medical Practices (Healthcare IT News)

05:26 Managing Stress and Burnout (MGMA Stat)

08:08 Virtual Care: The Future of Healthcare (Medical Economics)

12:06 Medicaid Cuts and Their Impact (Healthcare Dive)

16:07 Conclusion and Sign-Off

Additional Resources:

• MGMA Playbooks
• MGMA Events
• MGMA Consulting
• MGMA DataDive
• MGMA Stat
• MGMA Podcasts

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Episode Transcript

Daniel Williams (00:56):
Well, hi, everyone. I'm Daniel Williams,
senior editor at MGMA and hostof the MGMA Pod cast Network. We
are back with another MGMA weekin review podcast. I am here
with cohost Colleen Luckett.Before we get any further,
Colleen, what kind of week haveyou had?

Colleen Luckett (01:16):
Yeah. It has been a doozy. In fact, I know
you are as well, but we'repreparing for the MGMA summit
virtual conference coming up.And it has been yeah. We've been
just working hard over here.

Daniel Williams (01:29):
You are totally right. And I have told a couple
of people already today thatuntil an email internally went
out from MGMA, I knew MemorialDay was on Monday. I didn't know
we were off on Monday. I waspreparing the week as if I was
gonna be in here Monday. And soI went, oh my gosh.
I've got so many things I wasplanning to do Monday that I'm

(01:51):
now trying to do Friday. So

Colleen Luckett (01:53):
Oh, surprise.

Daniel Williams (01:55):
It's been that kind of week. Yeah.

Colleen Luckett (01:57):
Nice surprise.

Daniel Williams (01:58):
Exactly. Often or most every time, Colleen
kicks us off, but this week, shewas gracious enough to let me
kick it off. And so let's gostraight to our first story,
everyone. So for this first one,I wanna focus on something that
really hits for a lot of ourlisteners because you are an
independent medical practices.The challenges y'all face aren't

(02:20):
new, tighter margins, staffingissues, rising administrative
burdens.
But what is new or at leastevolving fast is the role that
AI is playing in supporting yourpractices. Now a recent health
care IT news piece looked at howeClinicalWorks is rolling out
some pretty compelling AIpowered tools to help these

(02:42):
smaller practices, not just tostay afloat, but actually to
thrive. We're talking aboutambient listening tech like
Sunno.ai. I hope I pronouncedthat correctly. This particular
platform listens in during apatient visit and automatically
builds out the clinicaldocumentation.
It's essentially your virtualscribe, and it's designed to

(03:05):
give providers back time they'dotherwise spend charting after
hours. I was also the moderatorfor an AI based webinar this
week. Same thing. We met withthe MGMA audience and just went
over all the things that AI isdoing for the practice. Not to
be outdone, I also had a podcastinterview with Microsoft Nuance

(03:29):
earlier this week, also talkingabout the role that technology
is having.
The person I spoke to, and thispodcast will be out in early
June, this was a doctor at aprimary care practice in rural
Oregon. And he was saying,basically, I don't know that I
could do my job today or atleast do it quite as well if I

(03:51):
didn't have these tech tools. Sowith all of that said, AMA has
its latest physician practicebenchmark survey out. It shows
that the percentage ofphysicians working in private
practices dropped from just over60 in 2012 to under forty seven
percent in '22 2022. That's areally steep decline, and a big

(04:15):
part of that is burnout in thegrind of administrative work.
The reason that's brought up isthere is a bright spot. The same
AMA report shows that burnouthas actually decreased a bit,
down from nearly sixty threepercent at the height of the
pandemic to just over fortythree percent earlier this year.

(04:36):
But we're still talking aboutalmost half of all physicians
are struggling with burnout orextreme stress. So why do we say
all this? Because anything thatcan lighten the load, like AI
taking over your charting, yourscheduling, even your billing
workflows can truly make adifference.
If you are an independentpractice leader listening right

(04:57):
now, this may be a good time toassess your tech setup. Are
there areas where automationcould give your team a breather?
Are you spending your time andyour staff's time on work that
AI could now handle? Becausewe're no longer talking about
the future. These tools arehere.
They're accessible. Many of thephysicians and clinicians out

(05:18):
there are already using them.And if you're not, you're simply
being left behind. Colleen, withall that said, I'm gonna turn it
over to you.

Colleen Luckett (05:26):
We are going to continue on that theme of
managing stress and burnout inthe workplace. Folks, if your
staff's PTO calendar is startingto look more like a game of
Tetris than a well oiledschedule, don't worry. We've got
some tips to help you keep yourteam happy and your practice
running smoothly. So let's talkpoll. This week's poll was

(05:46):
connected on May 20.
It asked, how has yourorganization expanded PTO or
leave benefits in the past year?And out of 403 of you, only 21%
said yes, and a whopping 77%said no. Our poll results
follow-up article titled, how doyou handle your medical staff's

(06:08):
paid time off and leave, takes alook at why PTO policy changes
can feel more like a glaciercrawl than a sprint. Turns out,
most practice leaders stick withthe status quo, not because
they're stubborn, but becauseit's a balancing act between
performance, competitiveness,and a parent organization's HR
playbook, frankly. If you'relooking for ways to stay

(06:30):
competitive, here are a fewemerging trends from your peers
to consider.
Enhanced PTO with fasteraccrual, especially in year one,
dedicated mental health daysbecause burnout isn't a badge of
honor all the time, Parentalleave policies that go beyond
the basics, especially in nonFMLA covered practices. That's
that federal medical leave.Flexible schedules like four day

(06:54):
work weeks, early or late shiftoptions, and remote work for
administrative roles. Jobsharing setups to give part time
flexibility without sacrificingcoverage, and let's not forget
rewarding tenure with extra daysoff because loyalty shouldn't
just get a mug and a handshake.So, yeah, a little flexibility
can go a long way, whether it'sextra PTO, smarter scheduling,

(07:18):
or just listening to what yourstaff truly values.
Small shifts can help youattract and keep top talent. So
as always, you can check out theshow notes for a link to that
article. And hey, do you have aPTO policy that's a big hit with
your team? We would love to workwith you on publishing an
article to the MGMA website orMGMA Connection Magazine or

(07:39):
both. So drop us a line [e-mail] to
collaborate with us on that.
And if you're not already partof our weekly text polls, sign
up for MGMA staff by textingstat, s t a t, to 33550 or by
visiting our website,MGMA.com/MGMA-stat. Your

(08:02):
insights shape the data weshare. So please go ahead and
get involved in that. Alright,Danielle. Back to you.

Daniel Williams (08:09):
Yeah. For this next article, I'll start off
with a little personal notehere. I've got a daughter who's
a rising senior in college outin California. I'm here in
Colorado. She is here for a fewdays gathering some things,
seeing some friends, and thenshe's heading off to Spain to do
an internship in a

Colleen Luckett (08:28):
Oh, nice.

Daniel Williams (08:29):
I believe it's best described as like a memory
care center. It's not all theydo, but they do other aspects of
help with patients who haveeither issues or challenges with
either dementia, memory loss, orthere is a branch there as well
with people who have autism andother aspects like that. The
reason I give you all this Iknow. As we're it's pretty

(08:51):
exciting. She's got a hugesummer here coming up.
But

Colleen Luckett (08:56):
I was gonna say, I thought I was being
really exotic when I went toMelbourne Beach, Florida for my
internship. That's awesome.

Daniel Williams (09:03):
Exactly. Me too. Same here. And so she's
here for a couple of days, butwe're already at Friday. She
flies back to San Diego onSunday and then off to Spain,
and she needed, to have acheckup with her primary care
physician.
The next in person appointmentwas gonna be well past. She was

(09:27):
already gonna be in Spain. Thatwas not gonna work. We made a
call today this morning. And by11AM, they had a virtual call.
So they had a checkup. Theychecked in.

Colleen Luckett (09:37):
Great.

Daniel Williams (09:38):
She was able to get a prescription refilled,
things of that nature. That isthe beauty of virtual care, and
that's where we're going withthis next story. According to a
recent medical economicsarticle, up to thirty percent of
all US medical care could bedelivered virtually by the end

(09:58):
of twenty twenty six. Believeme. When I read that headline, I
went, woah.
And I was just shocked by that.But this number comes from a
report by an organization,Science Soft, and I cannot
stress enough how much it caughtmy attention, really made me sit
up straight in my chair just tosee that. So it's not just
telehealth as a nice to haveanymore. The infrastructure is

(10:22):
there according to this study.The patient demand is absolutely
there, but the big stickingpoint, regulatory clarity.
Right now, lot of practices aresitting in a kind of limbo.
You've got the tools, you've gotZoom, EHR integration, remote
monitoring, but it's tough tofully commit when reimbursement

(10:44):
rules keep changing, andlicensing laws vary from state
to state. The AMA's beenflagging this too. Their policy
folks point to reimbursementuncertainty, HIPAA compliance
concerns, and cross statelicensure as three of the
biggest barriers holding backexpansion. Now some specialties

(11:07):
are pushing ahead regardless,mental health being a big one.
We're seeing sustained highusage of virtual visits and
behavioral health, and not justbecause of convenience. Patients
feel more comfortable. Providerscan often see more people. And
in some cases, the outcomes arejust as strong as in person
care. But here's where it getsactionable.

(11:31):
If you're running a practiceright now, how are you thinking
about virtual care? Are youoffering it just because you had
to during COVID, or is itbecoming a true part of your
care strategy? Because if that30% number is even close to
accurate and regulations startto solidify, the practices that

(11:51):
are already set up to scale willhave a major head start. So the
question to ask might be, are weready if the switch flips?
Because that future is comingfast.
Colleen, I'm gonna turn it overto you.

Colleen Luckett (12:06):
Alright. Prepare yourselves because we
are not closing on an especiallyuplifting note, but it is super
important for health careleaders to keep on top of,
especially those of you managingpractices and groups that serve
Medicaid patients. You probablyalready know where I'm going
with those. So this update comesfrom Healthcare Dive on May 22.

(12:27):
The article was written byRebecca Pifer, and it's titled
House Passes Reconciliation Billwith Massive Medicaid Cuts.
The article outlines the passageof that huge GOP budget bill
this week in the US House ofRepresentatives, a bill that
proposes sweeping cuts toMedicaid and other federal
safety needs. The legislationpassed by just one vote with all

(12:50):
Democrats voting against it. Sothat was 02/2015 to 02/14, and
it includes approximately$700,000,000,000 in Medicaid
cuts over the next decade. Thesecuts would be enacted largely
through new work, education, orvolunteering requirements for
Medicaid eligibility set tobegin in late twenty twenty six

(13:11):
as well as other changes toenrollment and reporting.
According to the congressionalbudget office, the legislation
would result in 7,600,000 peoplelosing Medicaid and another
4,000,000 losing affordable careact coverage, a rollback that
would eliminate nearly half ofthe coverage gains made since
ACA was enacted in 2010.

(13:32):
For medical group managers, thestakes are really high. Fewer
insured patients, of course,means reduced reimbursement,
more uncompensated care, andincreased administrative
complexity. Practices in ruralor underserved areas, which
often serve a higher percentageof Medicaid patients, are
particularly at risk. This couldresult in scaled back services

(13:53):
or, in some cases, full closuresof clinics that communities rely
on. But beyond the numbers, it'sworth considering who these
changes would affect.
Many of the patients served byMGMA members include single
mothers working multiple parttime jobs, caregivers balancing
employment with elder orchildcare, and low wage workers
in industries without benefits.These are individuals who may

(14:16):
already struggle with irregularschedules, lack of childcare,
transportation barriers, andchronic health conditions,
Requiring them to navigate newbureaucratic hurdles to verify
work or volunteering hours couldresult in coverage loss, not
because they don't meet therequirements, but because of the
bureaucratic obstacles. RickPollink, president and CEO of

(14:37):
the American HospitalAssociation, summarized the
impact this way. He said, thesheer magnitude of the
reductions to the Medicaidprogram alone will impact all
patients, not just Medicaidbeneficiaries, in every
community across the nation. Thebill's cutting not only Medicaid
but also food assistance,education programs, and clean

(14:58):
energy initiatives representsone of the broadest rollbacks of
public support systems in recenthistory.
And while proponents argue itaddresses fraud and
inefficiencies, provider groupsand patient advocates say the
costs will be paid in coveragelosses, hospital closures, and
worse health outcomes. Thelegislation now moves to the
senate where it is expected toface both support and pushback

(15:21):
from Republican lawmakers. Somego even further with cuts while
others are concerned about theeffects on health care access in
their districts. And as medicalgroup leaders, of course, it's
important to stay informed, iswhat we aim to do here at
Weekend Review. But if yourorganization could be affected
by these proposed changes,please consider reaching out to
your state senators to shareyour perspective.

(15:44):
Expressing the operationalimpact of reduced access to
care, financial viability, andworkforce stream can help inform
decision making at the federallevel. And as a health care
patient myself, I can 100%approve of that message. And,
okay, everyone. Let's just tryto shake that off for the
weekend, and please enjoy yourbarbecues for the Memorial Day

(16:04):
holiday. And that's a wrap forme, Daniel.
Back to you.

Daniel Williams (16:08):
Alright. Thanks, Colleen. And that is a
wrap for this weekend reviewepisode. Thank you all so much
for being MGMA podcastlisteners. As always, we will
have the direct links to all ofthese stories so you can take
them in over your long weekend,and we are both wishing you a
very happy extended weekend.
And we'll see you back here nextweek.

Colleen Luckett (16:30):
Thanks, everyone. See you next week.