Got an idea to reduce physician burden? CMS wants to hear it

Sometimes, reducing the cost or headaches associated with getting reimbursed for care can be like getting a pay raise. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is offering physicians an opportunity to make that happen with a new request for information (RFI) associated with the agency’s “Patients Over Paperwork" initiative.

The RFI asks physicians and other health care workers, along with patients and their families, to recommend changes to current rules, policies, and procedures that they believe would allow clinicians to spend more time and resources on better patient care and reduce administrative paperwork. In particular, CMS is looking for suggestions to improve:

•    Reporting and documentation requirements
•    Coding and documentation requirements for Medicare or Medicaid payment
•    Prior authorization procedures
•    Policies and requirements for rural providers, clinicians, and beneficiaries
•    Policies and requirements for beneficiaries dually enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid
•    Beneficiary enrollment and eligibility determination
•    CMS processes for issuing regulations and policies

More information about the RFI is available from CMS. Comments must be submitted by Aug. 12.

– Kent Moore, Senior Strategist for Physician Payment at the American Academy of Family Physicians