Physicians are guiding new payment system, CMS chief says

In the effort to design the new Medicare payment system, Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), said that the driving factor behind many of the changes was physician input—and the proposed rule attempts to reflect that. But the physician’s role does not stop there. How physicians are having a voice in regulations “You represent one of America’s most potent and proudest forces of talent and ability,” Andy Slavitt, acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), told physicians Monday at the 2016 AMA Annual Meeting in Chicago. There is an historic opportunity before us, he said, “to change how Medicare pays for care.” “I’m also here to talk about something bigger: Reversing a pattern of regulations and frustration and ultimately unleashing a new wave of collaboration between the people who spend their lives taking care of us and those of us whose job it is to support that cause,” Slavitt said. With little time left in his tenure, Slavitt called upon physicians to not only work with him until that time is up but also continue to work with CMS in the same manner after he departs from Washington. “We don’t profess to have all the answers,” he said. “We continue to look for comments … on how to simplify further, how to align the performance categories, how to make sure we’re not encouraging compliance but rather rewarding care.” CMS has collected comments,...
Source: AMA Wire - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Source Type: news