July 27, 2001

CMS Announces Provider Responsiveness Initiatives

The leadership of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) July 23 brought together various provider groups to discuss and announce three initiatives designed to enhance the responsiveness of the agency. The three initiatives include:

• CMS "Open Door Policy Committees" that will serve as principle points of contact for seven provider and beneficiary groups;
• A series of open forums that will occur throughout the country to hear concerns from both providers and beneficiaries; and
• Teams of CMS "In-house" experts to think innovatively about reducing providers' administrative burdens.

The AAMC will participate in the hospital policy committee, along with other national hospital organizations. Tom Grissom, director of Medicare Management within CMS will be the senior staff liaison for the hospitals. At the July 23 meeting, the group discussed several issues, including CMS' interest in shortening the Medicare cost reports that hospitals are required to complete annually. These reports require significant time and effort to complete and are often cited as a good starting point in reducing administrative burden. However, CMS also is open to suggestions on other areas for improvement. According to CMS Administrator Tom Scully, if there is a good idea out there, CMS will try to implement it. Other provider groups including physicians, health plans, nurses and allied healthcare professionals, nursing homes, home health and hospice, and ESRD and Dialysis Centers will also hold monthly meetings.

Information: Karen Fisher, AAMC Division of Healthcare Affairs, 202-862-6140.