In This Week’s Issue:
1. Senator Casey in Ability Magazine: Time to Empower Patients and People with Disabilities, click here to view the article.
2. PIPC Chairman’s Corner: Patient Engagement is Paramount in New CMMI Models, click here to view the blog post.
3. Call Today on Medicaid, People with Disabilities, and Children's Health, see details below.
4. NQF: MAP Pre-rulemaking Commenting Open Through January 13, click here to view the announcement.
5. CMS Outreach Webinar Series: eCQI Resource Center Jan 11, click here to register for the event.
6. Providence Journal: Brown Researchers Fear Loss of Funding Under Trump, click here to view the article.
7. PCORI Blog: Start Volunteering in Health Care and One Thing Can Lead to Another, click here to view the blog post.
8. Sign and Share Petition to Give Patients and People Served by Health Systems a Voice in Healthcare, click here to view and sign the petition.
9. Upcoming Events and Webinars, see details below.
10. Medical Journal Articles, see details below.
11. AHRQ Effective Program Updates, see details below.
1. Senator Casey in Ability Magazine: Time to Empower Patients and People with Disabilities, click here to view the article.
2. PIPC Chairman’s Corner: Patient Engagement is Paramount in New CMMI Models, click here to view the blog post.
3. Call Today on Medicaid, People with Disabilities, and Children's Health, see details below.
4. NQF: MAP Pre-rulemaking Commenting Open Through January 13, click here to view the announcement.
5. CMS Outreach Webinar Series: eCQI Resource Center Jan 11, click here to register for the event.
6. Providence Journal: Brown Researchers Fear Loss of Funding Under Trump, click here to view the article.
7. PCORI Blog: Start Volunteering in Health Care and One Thing Can Lead to Another, click here to view the blog post.
8. Sign and Share Petition to Give Patients and People Served by Health Systems a Voice in Healthcare, click here to view and sign the petition.
9. Upcoming Events and Webinars, see details below.
10. Medical Journal Articles, see details below.
11. AHRQ Effective Program Updates, see details below.
1. Senator Casey in Ability Magazine: Time to Empower Patients and People with Disabilities
An opinion piece published in Ability Magazine from Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) titled “Time to Empower Patients and People with Disabilities” provides a wonderful example of the impact of our advocacy to better engage patients and people with disabilities in policy-making. “To succeed, these health care reforms should be founded on one principal: improving the life of patients receiving care,” Sen. Casey writes. “As technology opens the door to groundbreaking methods of personalized care, having people with disabilities involved in the health care debate is more important than ever before. The power to personalize care will incentivize people to monitor and take a more active role in maintaining their health.”
Sen. Casey goes on to express concern over using quality measures to apply one-size-fits-all policies, especially for people with disabilities. Sen. Casey writes, “Persons with disabilities may have atypical health care needs and, as a result, require individualized services or treatments. The wide variation of physiological experiences of long-term disability, such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or Down syndrome, means that what is an ‘average’ treatment may not be appropriate for any given individual with a disability. There is long standing and well-founded concern regarding the use of QALYs [quality-adjusted-life years], which use an average view of the optimal quality of life to determine the value of a treatment. Using QALYs to determine the treatment for people with disabilities could reduce health care access because the cost-per-QALY may not be deemed cost-effective. As a result, using QALYs and similar tests to determine who gets what treatment could have a severe impact on the access to health care for countless individuals with disabilities. Click here to view the article.
2. PIPC Chairman’s Corner: Patient Engagement is Paramount in New CMMI Models
As PIPC continues to play an active role in building a patient-centered healthcare system, we’ve been intensely focused on ensuring that the transition to a value-based health system is built on the foundation of achieving outcomes that truly matter to patients. That’s why PIPC was encouraged when the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) recently announced two models designed to increase patient engagement in care, as well as increase shared decision-making about care and treatment.
PIPC’s latest Chairman’s Corner blog post applauds the Direct Decision and Shared Decision Making models as employing novel approaches to understanding how Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries make decisions about treatment options. “Through these models, the agency hopes to demonstrate the impact of a more patient-centered decision-making process on overall patient engagement in a health-care system charged with delivering better care, more affordable care, and increased transparency in care quality and cost,” PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho states. “Patient engagement is my ministry and these new CMMI decision-making models will be an important first step in ensuring that patients are given the role they need, want, and deserve when it comes to their individual care decisions. As these new models evolve, please share your experiences with us so we can effectively work with Congress and the new Administration to ensure patient engagement remains an important focus for CMS in the new year and beyond.” Click here to view the blog post.
3. Call Today on Medicaid, People with Disabilities, and Children’s Health
The US Senate Democrats have issued a notice inviting stakeholders to participate in a series of calls later today, Monday, January 9th, 2016. They will be speaking from the Senate floor. Among the series of calls, Members of the caucus will discuss Medicaid and people with disabilities at 6:45pm at (800) 260-0712 - Access Code: 415180. Other calls include the following:
Mobile App (Android or Apple) - Download the free app from App Store or Google Play
Enter event ID : ia47621
4. NQF: MAP Pre-rulemaking Commenting Open Through January 13
According to a National Quality Forum (NQF) announcement, the Measure Applications Partnership (MAP) draft recommendations to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on 97 measures under consideration for federal programs are now available. It notes that the draft recommendations reflect consensus from recent pre-rulemaking meetings by the hospital, clinician, and post-acute and long-term care workgroups and that the dual eligible beneficiaries workgroup will provide feedback on the pre-rulemaking recommendations during a January 10 web meeting. Furthermore, it states that the MAP Coordinating Committee will review and finalize the workgroups’ recommendations during an in-person meeting, January 24-25 and that the pre-rulemaking public comment period is open to the public through January 13, 2017, at 6:00pm ET.
NQF explains that MAP reviews standardized performance measures and makes recommendations to HHS for 18 federal programs that use measures for public reporting or payment purposes, including the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) program legislated by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). NQF has convened MAP annually since 2011. The announcement includes links to register for the MAP dual eligible beneficiaries workgroup pre-rulemaking web meeting and the MAP coordinating committee in-person meeting. Click here to view the announcement.
5. CMS Outreach Webinar Series: eCQI Resource Center Jan 11
The next session in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) new Measurement Development Webinar series is slated to take place January 11, 2017 at 2:00 pm ET and will focus on an overview and demonstration of the Electronic Clinical Quality Improvement (eCQI) Resource Center. The eCQI Resource Center provides a one-stop shop for the most current resources to support federal eCQI initiatives. Developed by CMS and ONC with input from other federal agencies and stakeholders, the Resource Center includes, for example:
The webinar series is designed specifically for clinical specialty societies and patient advocacy groups. CMS will be hosting the Measure Development Series on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month. Click here to register for the event.
6. Providence Journal: Brown Researchers Fear Loss of Funding Under Trump
An article in Province Journal shares the fears that researchers at Brown University are facing under the anticipation of Donald Trump’s presidency, especially as it relates to the potential loss of Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) funding. "There are a lot of things we don't know about Trump's agenda,'' Dr. Ira B. Wilson, Brown University School of Public Health's chairman of health services, policy and practice, said. "Everybody is worried that PCORI will be either crippled or killed. ...We have several millions of dollars of research grants which are related to PCORI, so it's quite significant." Click here to view the article.
7. PCORI Blog: Start Volunteering in Health Care and One Thing Can Lead to Another
The Patient Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Guest Blog shares a post that PCORI Ambassador Janice Tufte, who is a patient co-investigator on a PCORI-funded project, wrote for the Group Health Research Institute blog about how she became involved with health research. “I encourage any patient who uses curiosity as a driving force and is interested in science to inquire how you might become involved with health research,” she writes. “Oh yes, it is a lot of work. But if you enjoy this type of discipline, it is also fun.” Click here to view the blog post.
8. Sign and Share Petition to Give Patients and People Served by Health Systems a Voice in Healthcare
Sign and share PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho’s recently launched petition calling on health care stakeholders to recognize patients and people served by health system’s movement for greater say in their own health care. “We urge both the media and politicians to take heed of what matters to us… because in the end, we are all patients,” Chairman Coelho writes.
Join the petition to all those who define your health care to say…
PIPC encourages every individual to sign and share the petition in order to increase its impact and raise awareness of the important issue. Click here to view and sign the petition.
9. Upcoming Events and Webinars
PCORI Board of Governors Meeting
January 10, 2017, 12:00-1:00PM ET
Click here for details.
PCORI Online Training
January 12, 2017, 1:00-2:30PM ET
Click here for details.
PCORI Online Training
January 18, 2017, 10:00-11:30 AM ET
Click here for details.
Getting to Know PCORI: From Application to Closeout (January 2017)
January 23 - 24, 2017, Washington Marriott Georgetown
Click here for details.
PCORI Online Training
January 24, 2017, 1:00-2:30 PM ET
Click here for details.
Optimal Treatment Sequences for Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain Applicant LOI Town Hall - Cycle 1 2017
January 25, 2017, 11:00 AM -12:00 PM ET
Click here for details.
Dissemination and Implementation Applicant LOI Town Hall - Cycle 1 2017
January 25, 2017, 3:00-4:00 PM ET
Click here for details.
Pragmatic Clinical Studies Applicant LOI Town Hall - Cycle 1 2017
January 26, 2017, 2:30-4:00 PM ET
Click here for details.
2017 National Health Policy Conference
January 30 - 31, 2017, Marriott, Marquis, Washington D.C.
Click here for details.
National Value-Based Payment and Pay for Performance Summit
March 8, 2017, San Francisco, CA
Click here for details.
Evidence-Based Guidelines Affecting Policy, Practice and Stakeholders (E-GAPPS III) Conference
March 20-21, 2017, New York, NY
Click here for details.
10. Medical Journal Articles
Comparative Effectiveness of Interferons in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: A Meta-Analysis of Real-World Studies, click here to view.
Viewpoint: Negative Control Outcomes: A Tool to Detect Bias in Randomized Trials, click here to view.
Assessment of Overall Survival, Quality of Life, and Safety Benefits Associated With New Cancer Medicines, click here to view.
Patients' Views of Consent in Clinical Trials for Acute Myocardial Infarction: Impact of Trial Design, click here to view.
Oral Pharmacologic Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Clinical Practice Guideline Update From the American College of Physicians, click here to view.
A Systematic Review of Cost-Effectiveness Studies Reporting Cost-Per-DALY Averted, click here to view.
'Model' Versus 'Everyday' Patients: Can Randomized Controlled Trial Data Really Be Applied to the Clinic?, click here to view.
Ticagrelor versus Clopidogrel in Symptomatic Peripheral Artery Disease, click here to view.
11. AHRQ Effective Program Updates
Noninvasive, Nonpharmacological Treatment of Chronic Pain, click here to view.
Updating Quantitative Synthesis, click here to view.
Strategies To De-escalate Aggressive Behavior in Psychiatric Patients -- Disposition of Comments Report, click here to view.
An opinion piece published in Ability Magazine from Senator Bob Casey (D-PA) titled “Time to Empower Patients and People with Disabilities” provides a wonderful example of the impact of our advocacy to better engage patients and people with disabilities in policy-making. “To succeed, these health care reforms should be founded on one principal: improving the life of patients receiving care,” Sen. Casey writes. “As technology opens the door to groundbreaking methods of personalized care, having people with disabilities involved in the health care debate is more important than ever before. The power to personalize care will incentivize people to monitor and take a more active role in maintaining their health.”
Sen. Casey goes on to express concern over using quality measures to apply one-size-fits-all policies, especially for people with disabilities. Sen. Casey writes, “Persons with disabilities may have atypical health care needs and, as a result, require individualized services or treatments. The wide variation of physiological experiences of long-term disability, such as cerebral palsy, epilepsy, or Down syndrome, means that what is an ‘average’ treatment may not be appropriate for any given individual with a disability. There is long standing and well-founded concern regarding the use of QALYs [quality-adjusted-life years], which use an average view of the optimal quality of life to determine the value of a treatment. Using QALYs to determine the treatment for people with disabilities could reduce health care access because the cost-per-QALY may not be deemed cost-effective. As a result, using QALYs and similar tests to determine who gets what treatment could have a severe impact on the access to health care for countless individuals with disabilities. Click here to view the article.
2. PIPC Chairman’s Corner: Patient Engagement is Paramount in New CMMI Models
As PIPC continues to play an active role in building a patient-centered healthcare system, we’ve been intensely focused on ensuring that the transition to a value-based health system is built on the foundation of achieving outcomes that truly matter to patients. That’s why PIPC was encouraged when the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) recently announced two models designed to increase patient engagement in care, as well as increase shared decision-making about care and treatment.
PIPC’s latest Chairman’s Corner blog post applauds the Direct Decision and Shared Decision Making models as employing novel approaches to understanding how Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries make decisions about treatment options. “Through these models, the agency hopes to demonstrate the impact of a more patient-centered decision-making process on overall patient engagement in a health-care system charged with delivering better care, more affordable care, and increased transparency in care quality and cost,” PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho states. “Patient engagement is my ministry and these new CMMI decision-making models will be an important first step in ensuring that patients are given the role they need, want, and deserve when it comes to their individual care decisions. As these new models evolve, please share your experiences with us so we can effectively work with Congress and the new Administration to ensure patient engagement remains an important focus for CMS in the new year and beyond.” Click here to view the blog post.
3. Call Today on Medicaid, People with Disabilities, and Children’s Health
The US Senate Democrats have issued a notice inviting stakeholders to participate in a series of calls later today, Monday, January 9th, 2016. They will be speaking from the Senate floor. Among the series of calls, Members of the caucus will discuss Medicaid and people with disabilities at 6:45pm at (800) 260-0712 - Access Code: 415180. Other calls include the following:
- Seniors & Protecting the Affordable Care Act - 5:30pm To participate, call: 888-850-4523 – Access Code: 621216
- Women's Health & Protecting the Affordable Care Act - 6:15pm
Mobile App (Android or Apple) - Download the free app from App Store or Google Play
Enter event ID : ia47621
- Medicaid, People with Disabilities, Children's Health & Protecting the Affordable Care Act -6:45pm
- Rural Health & Protecting the Affordable Care Act - 7:15pm
- Having a Pre-Existing Health Condition & Protecting the Affordable Care Act - 7:45pm
4. NQF: MAP Pre-rulemaking Commenting Open Through January 13
According to a National Quality Forum (NQF) announcement, the Measure Applications Partnership (MAP) draft recommendations to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on 97 measures under consideration for federal programs are now available. It notes that the draft recommendations reflect consensus from recent pre-rulemaking meetings by the hospital, clinician, and post-acute and long-term care workgroups and that the dual eligible beneficiaries workgroup will provide feedback on the pre-rulemaking recommendations during a January 10 web meeting. Furthermore, it states that the MAP Coordinating Committee will review and finalize the workgroups’ recommendations during an in-person meeting, January 24-25 and that the pre-rulemaking public comment period is open to the public through January 13, 2017, at 6:00pm ET.
NQF explains that MAP reviews standardized performance measures and makes recommendations to HHS for 18 federal programs that use measures for public reporting or payment purposes, including the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) program legislated by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). NQF has convened MAP annually since 2011. The announcement includes links to register for the MAP dual eligible beneficiaries workgroup pre-rulemaking web meeting and the MAP coordinating committee in-person meeting. Click here to view the announcement.
5. CMS Outreach Webinar Series: eCQI Resource Center Jan 11
The next session in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) new Measurement Development Webinar series is slated to take place January 11, 2017 at 2:00 pm ET and will focus on an overview and demonstration of the Electronic Clinical Quality Improvement (eCQI) Resource Center. The eCQI Resource Center provides a one-stop shop for the most current resources to support federal eCQI initiatives. Developed by CMS and ONC with input from other federal agencies and stakeholders, the Resource Center includes, for example:
- Electronic clinical quality measures (eCQMs) and their specifications.
- Links to tools and standards used in eCQM development, testing, implementation, and certification.
- Information on clinical decision support (CDS) efforts. The Resource Center’s goal is to unify the eCQI community by connecting related activities, providing resources, and streamlining the process for obtaining guidance and feedback. We will guide the participants through a live demonstration of the Resource Center soliciting questions and ideas for enhancement.
The webinar series is designed specifically for clinical specialty societies and patient advocacy groups. CMS will be hosting the Measure Development Series on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of each month. Click here to register for the event.
6. Providence Journal: Brown Researchers Fear Loss of Funding Under Trump
An article in Province Journal shares the fears that researchers at Brown University are facing under the anticipation of Donald Trump’s presidency, especially as it relates to the potential loss of Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) funding. "There are a lot of things we don't know about Trump's agenda,'' Dr. Ira B. Wilson, Brown University School of Public Health's chairman of health services, policy and practice, said. "Everybody is worried that PCORI will be either crippled or killed. ...We have several millions of dollars of research grants which are related to PCORI, so it's quite significant." Click here to view the article.
7. PCORI Blog: Start Volunteering in Health Care and One Thing Can Lead to Another
The Patient Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Guest Blog shares a post that PCORI Ambassador Janice Tufte, who is a patient co-investigator on a PCORI-funded project, wrote for the Group Health Research Institute blog about how she became involved with health research. “I encourage any patient who uses curiosity as a driving force and is interested in science to inquire how you might become involved with health research,” she writes. “Oh yes, it is a lot of work. But if you enjoy this type of discipline, it is also fun.” Click here to view the blog post.
8. Sign and Share Petition to Give Patients and People Served by Health Systems a Voice in Healthcare
Sign and share PIPC Chairman Tony Coelho’s recently launched petition calling on health care stakeholders to recognize patients and people served by health system’s movement for greater say in their own health care. “We urge both the media and politicians to take heed of what matters to us… because in the end, we are all patients,” Chairman Coelho writes.
Join the petition to all those who define your health care to say…
- We insist that on engaging patients, caregivers, and people living with incurable diseases or lifelong disabilities in health care decision-making.
- We want to be at the center of health care.
- We want policies to explicitly empower consumers, patients and providers.
- We want to know what decisions about our health are being made by the government.
- We want a health care system that rewards the outcomes that matter to us as patients and participants in this nation’s health system.
- We reject the notion that we should be bundled into one-size-fits-all care models, or valued against one-size-fits-all judgments of cost-effectiveness. Don’t tell us what we’re worth – ask us what we value.
- None of us is average. We are unique individuals with different genetics, characteristics, needs and preferences. Especially in this promising new age of personalized medicine, we are confounded by proposals in vital programs like Medicare that aim to eliminate, rather than empower, choice of treatments.
PIPC encourages every individual to sign and share the petition in order to increase its impact and raise awareness of the important issue. Click here to view and sign the petition.
9. Upcoming Events and Webinars
PCORI Board of Governors Meeting
January 10, 2017, 12:00-1:00PM ET
Click here for details.
PCORI Online Training
January 12, 2017, 1:00-2:30PM ET
Click here for details.
PCORI Online Training
January 18, 2017, 10:00-11:30 AM ET
Click here for details.
Getting to Know PCORI: From Application to Closeout (January 2017)
January 23 - 24, 2017, Washington Marriott Georgetown
Click here for details.
PCORI Online Training
January 24, 2017, 1:00-2:30 PM ET
Click here for details.
Optimal Treatment Sequences for Nonspecific Chronic Low Back Pain Applicant LOI Town Hall - Cycle 1 2017
January 25, 2017, 11:00 AM -12:00 PM ET
Click here for details.
Dissemination and Implementation Applicant LOI Town Hall - Cycle 1 2017
January 25, 2017, 3:00-4:00 PM ET
Click here for details.
Pragmatic Clinical Studies Applicant LOI Town Hall - Cycle 1 2017
January 26, 2017, 2:30-4:00 PM ET
Click here for details.
2017 National Health Policy Conference
January 30 - 31, 2017, Marriott, Marquis, Washington D.C.
Click here for details.
National Value-Based Payment and Pay for Performance Summit
March 8, 2017, San Francisco, CA
Click here for details.
Evidence-Based Guidelines Affecting Policy, Practice and Stakeholders (E-GAPPS III) Conference
March 20-21, 2017, New York, NY
Click here for details.
10. Medical Journal Articles
Comparative Effectiveness of Interferons in Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis: A Meta-Analysis of Real-World Studies, click here to view.
Viewpoint: Negative Control Outcomes: A Tool to Detect Bias in Randomized Trials, click here to view.
Assessment of Overall Survival, Quality of Life, and Safety Benefits Associated With New Cancer Medicines, click here to view.
Patients' Views of Consent in Clinical Trials for Acute Myocardial Infarction: Impact of Trial Design, click here to view.
Oral Pharmacologic Treatment of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A Clinical Practice Guideline Update From the American College of Physicians, click here to view.
A Systematic Review of Cost-Effectiveness Studies Reporting Cost-Per-DALY Averted, click here to view.
'Model' Versus 'Everyday' Patients: Can Randomized Controlled Trial Data Really Be Applied to the Clinic?, click here to view.
Ticagrelor versus Clopidogrel in Symptomatic Peripheral Artery Disease, click here to view.
11. AHRQ Effective Program Updates
Noninvasive, Nonpharmacological Treatment of Chronic Pain, click here to view.
Updating Quantitative Synthesis, click here to view.
Strategies To De-escalate Aggressive Behavior in Psychiatric Patients -- Disposition of Comments Report, click here to view.