Physicians' perceptions of reimbursement as a barrier to comprehensive diabetes care

As the incidence of diabetes increases, there is growing concern about the adequacy of reimbursement levels for delivering comprehensive diabetes care.

To investigate physicians' perceptions of the adequacy of reimbursement, as well as resources (eg, staff, facilities, materials), for their treatment of diabetic patients.

A qualitative exploration using a Web-based survey of 300 physicians (200 primary care providers and 100 endocrinologists) and an online discussion group of 12 physicians, focusing on 10 services recommended by the American Diabetes Association that may be prone to underreimbursement. The 10 services were matched with 4 general diabetes care categories to assess the adequacy of care delivery.

The majority of physician study participants perceived that most of the 10 identified services are inadequately reimbursed-83% to 95% of physicians said Medicaid reimbursement was inadequate, 75% to 89% for Medicare reimbursement, and 67% to 86% for private insurance reimbursement-leading them to spend less time with each patient. This reduction in time was a limiting factor to providing comprehensive diabetes care. The survey also revealed differences between endocrinologists and primary care physicians; for example, medical nutrition therapy was offered by 50% of endocrinology practices compared with only 29.5% of primary care practices.

This study confirms previous findings that physicians perceive current reimbursement for diabetes care as too low, which limits their ability to perform all the tasks necessary to deliver comprehensive diabetes care.