Yesterday, Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC) Chairman Tony Coelho sent a letter to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma commented on the delay of the final rule entitled Advancing Care Coordination Through Episode Payment Models (EPMs); Cardiac Rehabilitation Incentive Payment Model; and Changes to the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model. In the letter, Chairman Coelho provides several patient-centered recommendations, and urges Administrator Verma to advance reforms with the patient’s voice being at the center of decision making. “PIPC looks forward to bringing the voices of patients, people with disabilities, and their families to the discussion of how to advance patient-centered principles throughout an evolving health care system,” wrote Chairman Coelho.
Chairman Coelho also states: “We view this as an opportunity for the agency to forge a new path forward on engaging stakeholders, particularly patients, in the development, implementation and evaluation of alternative payment models. Without patients at the table, it will be impossible for new models to be truly patient-centered, meaning that they are built to achieve outcomes that matter to patients. Additionally, this is an opportunity to consider input from stakeholders about the scope and impact of new payment models and apply that feedback to episode payment models being implemented by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Innovation Center).”
| pipc_epm_letter_delay.pdf |
