How Solo Practitioners Can Excel in Value-Based Care

In our “Physician Voices” podcast series, doctors share their unique stories, expert perspectives, and helpful insights. In this episode, we welcome Mark Florian, MD, an internist and solo practitioner in Bryan, Texas. Our conversation explores how physician-led governance can simplify HCC coding and other complex topics in value-based care as well as how Privia cultivates clinical leadership and engagement.

This excerpt of our conversation is edited for length and clarity. You can listen to the full episode below and find us on your preferred platform.

Q: For many doctors, especially solo practitioners, value-based care’s promise is overshadowed by its complexity. Hierarchical Condition Categories — or HCC coding — is particularly challenging. How did Privia’s physician-led governance increase your awareness and understanding of it?

When I first joined, I was kind of blind. I didn’t know anything about risk coding or risk adjustment, essentially. With Privia, physicians get together several times a year to review quality, risk assessment, and costs. Then, we discuss different ways to help control costs and quality. It’s physicians helping each other get to where they need to be to succeed.

At these meetings, I realized that I was not performing very well in this model, which impacts the group’s success or failure. So, I took it upon myself to scour the internet and look for classes where I can start to learn more about HCC coding. It’s something that you can master, which was very attractive to me. I took a lot of classes and did a lot of CME.

I ended up teaching some of what I learned to doctors in our group. Then, for Medicare, I got certified as a risk adjuster. That gave me a little bit more credence to sit down and talk to larger groups of people and lay these things out with more authority.

Q: Speaking of expertise, how have Privia’s teams of experts helped you adapt to value-based care’s data demands?

Privia has multiple departments set up to do just that: Comb through your data, help find what you need, and present it in the fashion you need. They help you and your staff learn how to do it. We have regular meetings about how to put the processes and people in place to meet the goals.

Discover how Privia helps amass, organize, and present data to improve performance in value-based care.

The only way to understand if you’re providing high-quality care is by gathering all this data. As an individual, that’s very hard to do. You can do some of it, but it becomes overwhelming to submit all the data in a way the payers recognize. That’s a time-consuming, tedious task. But every measure helps you get to a point where you’re rewarded more fairly for providing high-level, high-quality care.

When a partner like Privia takes those responsibilities off your plate, you can spend more time caring for patients, which can drive your income. Truth be told, I’m seeing fewer patients and making more money. At the end of the day, that’s what everybody wants.

Mark Florian, MD, is an internist and solo practitioner in Bryan, Texas. In addition to private practice, Dr. Florian works with hospitals, including Baylor Scott & White, and is an active member of the Texas Medical Association.

If you’re thinking of transitioning to VBC or looking for guidance, take advantage of the actionable advice in our guide: Demystifying the Journey to Value-Based Care.