Advocacy
July 2, 2010
Setting Standards for Medical Homes
The Disclosure Project commented on NCQA's proposed Patient-Centered Medical Home Standards for 2011, which serve as a standardized tool for assessing whether physician practices have the systems and processes in place needed to support a patient-centered medical home (PCMH). Our comments appreciate the significant progress NCQA has made in enhancing its standards, but also underscore the importance of improving them to make patient experience and meaning use "must pass" elements to receive recognition for having the capabilities of a PCMH.
June 17, 2010
Creating a Framework for Improving Care for Individuals with Multiple Chronic Conditions
HHS released a draft Strategic Framework on Multiple Chronic Conditions to support a coordinated vision and plan of action on how to improve care for individuals with multiple chronic conditions. The Disclosure Project provided comments applauding HHS' efforts to create a framework to address the unique needs experienced by this population. The comments also expressed the need to strengthen the framework by maximizing the contributions of health information technology and performance measures.
June 4, 2010
Implementing Health Care Reform: Developing an Insurance Web Portal to Inform Coverage Decisions
The Affordable Care Act requires HHS to develop a "Web Portal" to assist individuals and small businesses identify affordable health insurance coverage in any state. The Disclosure Project submitted comments on HHS' interim final rule on the Web Portal, emphasizing the importance of designing this tool to help users factor in quality and value of care (of health plans and individual providers) into their decisions about what coverage best reflects their needs.
March 1, 2010
Improving Quality Measurement in Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP)
The Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services was required under Title IV of Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) to draw up a list of recommended measures for states to use, and report, on a voluntary basis, to the Department for their Medicaid and CHIP programs. These measures were publicized in a federal register notice, along with a request for comments on how to best implement the measurement program to achieve broad participation by the states, since it's not a required reporting program and there are no direct financial incentives tied to the reporting. The Disclosure Project submitted comments to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), mostly praising the proposed set, and providing suggestions for an additional asthma measure, as well as suggestions for how to spur implementation of these measures by the states.
September 9, 2009
Comments on CMS' Proposed Changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and PQRI Program
In response to CMS' proposed changes to the Physician Fee Schedule and PQRI program, 23 consumer, labor, and purchaser organizations affirmed their support for comments that reflected concerns that CMS' proposed payment changes to the PFS for 2010 are not deep or wide enough to promote the transformation of the health care system into one that incents high-quality, high-value and patient-centered care. While many changes do require Congressional action, we specifically encourage CMS to rapidly pursue an agenda where the following are top priorities:
* Adopting payment systems that encourage physicians and other providers to work together to improve care
* Making payment decisions based on the perspective of consumers and purchasers, rather than sole reliance on resource costs
* Shifting payments to reward performance instead of volume of care and reporting on care quality
* Ensuring comprehensive collection and reporting of physician performance data, which is critical to helping payers reward physicians for quality and value of care, and providing consumers with information they need to make better decisions about their care
Read comments
August 31, 2009
Comments on CMS' Proposed Changes to the Outpatient Prospective Payment System Rules
In response to CMS' proposed changes to the OPPS rule for CY 2010, 17 consumer, labor, and purchaser organizations have affirmed their support for comments submitted by the Consumer-Purchaser Disclosure Project regarding the direction that they would like to see the Hospital Outpatient Program Quality Data Reporting Program take.
Read comments
June 30, 2009
Comments on CMS' Proposed Changes to the Inpatient Prospective Payment System Rules
In response to CMS' proposed changes to the IPPS rule for 2011, 23 consumer, labor, and purchaser organizations have affirmed their support for four additional quality measures to be added to the Reporting Hospital Quality Data for Annual Payment Update (RHQDAPU) program, as well as reiterating their concern that CMS focus on adding measures related to health care outcomes and other measures that are meaningful to consumers and purchasers.
Read comments.
May 15, 2009
Comments on Senate Finance Committee Delivery System Reform Options
The Senate Finance Committee released a report on Transforming the Health Care Delivery System: Proposals to Improve Patient Care and Reduce Health Care Costs, the first in their three-part series on reform. The Disclosure Project submitted a letter strongly supporting the direction of reforms that were outlined, provided recommendations on the policy options, and identified some cross-cutting areas that were not addressed in the report.
December 16, 2008
Comments on Plan to Transition to a Medicare Value-Based Purchasing Program for Physician and Other Professional Services
Twenty consumer, labor, and purchaser organizations affirmed the goals, objectives, and assumptions outlined in the Issue Paper developed by CMS. The organizations also strongly requested that CMS actively coordinate and align with private sector initiatives and provided suggestions in the areas of measurement, incentives, data, and public reporting. Read comments
June 13, 2008
Comments on CMS' Proposed Changes to the Inpatient Prospective Payment System Rules
In response to CMS' proposed changes to the IPPS rule, twenty-five consumer, labor, and purchaser organizations have affirmed their support for 9 additional Hospital Acquired Conditions (HACs) to which non-payment policies would apply, as well as an additional 43 quality measures to be implemented by FY 2011. The Consumer-Purchaser Disclosure Project also commented on a number of other data collection issues, as well as issues related to CMS' Medicare Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program. Read comments
March 5, 2008
Comments on CMS' Report to Congress, Plan to Implement a Medicare Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program
In response to CMS' Report Plan to Implement a Medicare Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program that was delivered to Congress towards the end of last year, thirty-one consumer, labor, and purchaser organizations have affirmed their support for hospital pay-for-performance and it being one component of more substantial payment reform. Under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, CMS was required to submit a report to Congress on developing a plan for hospital value based purchasing. Implementing the plan, however, requires further action from Congress. Read comments
October 29, 2007
NY Attorney General Incorporates Disclosure Project Principles in Agreement on Physician Measurement
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo announced an agreement his office negotiated with Cigna health plan on its physician tiering program. What could have been a step backwards has turned into a positive advance for the physician transparency movement. This agreement bakes in the standards that were developed by the Consumer-Purchaser Disclosure Project to foster transparency and accountability in health plan's physician performance reporting programs.
While developed for New York, this agreement sets the standards for other health plans across the country and is an important step forward in improving transparency for consumers. On behalf of the Consumer-Purchaser Disclosure Project, Consumers Union spoke at the press conference in support of a transparent process that is based on sound national standards and methodology. Along with Attorney General Cuomo and Cigna, representatives from the AMA and the Medical Society for the State of New York also spoke at the press conference. More information is available in the Disclosure Project's press release.
September 24, 2007
Disclosure Project Facilitates Meeting with New York Attorney General's Office on Tiered Physician Networks
On September 19, 2007, leading consumer, labor and purchaser representatives met with the New York Attorney General's office about our concerns that their recent actions could impede progress that has been made in physician performance transparency. Representatives from the following organizations were at the meeting: Center for Medical Consumers, Consumers Union, National Partnership for Women & Families, AARP, Xerox, SEIU/1199, and UNITE HERE. The Attorney General's office has articulated their concern for protecting consumers from false or misleading information. While we share the Attorney General's interest in protecting consumers from false or misleading information, we strongly support the value of programs that provide consumers with meaningful information about cost and quality. It is critical that we work to improve not shut down such programs. At the meeting, participants shared a draft of Proposed Criteria for Physician Performance Reporting that builds upon previous Disclosure guidelines that was well received.
September 12, 2007
CMS Releases New System of Records on Physician-Level Data
CMS has released a new system of records, Performance Measurement and Reporting System, under which data about individually identifiable physicians will be available for measurement at the individual physician level. The Disclosure Project and Pacific Business Group on Health submitted letters strongly supporting this new avenue, which take effect mid-October, for getting consumers information on the quality of their physicians while still maintaining patient privacy protections. View the Federal Register listing.
September 12, 2007
Consumers CHECKBOOK Sues HHS for Release of Medicare Physicians Claims Data
Consumers' CHECKBOOK/Center for the Study of Services won a lawsuit under the federal Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) that will require the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) to release data on individual physicians' claims paid by Medicare in five states. The Disclosure Project sent a letter urging DHHS to not appeal. However, there is an almost 30-year old Florida court ruling that contradicts the current one so DHHS has appealed to a higher court for clarification.
August 31, 2007
Comments on Medicare's 2008 Physician Payment Policies
Thirty-one consumer, labor, and purchaser organizations affirmed Medicare's Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) as one part of wide-ranging efforts needed to reform how providers are paid and held accountable and provides comments on strengthening the program.
June 12, 2007
Comments on Medicare's 2008 Hospital Reporting and Payment Policies
Twenty-four consumer, labor, and purchaser organizations support Medicare's efforts to ensure that hospitals are financially penalized for providing poor quality care and urge CMS to rapidly incorporate additional performance measures for public reporting.
April 19, 2007
Consumer, Labor and Purchaser Comment on Medicare's Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Plan
Current Medicare payment policies reward the delivery of quantity, not quality, of care. Value-based purchasing, which links payment more directly to performance, is a key strategy that CMS is adopting in order to evolve from being a passive payer to an active purchaser of care. More than 20 consumer, labor and purchaser organizations provided extensive feedback on Medicare's Hospital VBP Program.
January 24, 2007
Plan to Implement Medicare Hospital Value-Based Purchasing
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
October 10, 2006
Hospital Inpatient and Outpatient Payment Changes
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
August 21, 2006
Comments on Medicare Physician Payment
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
June 22, 2006
Consumers, Labor, and Purchasers Affirm June 12 Comments to Secretary Leavitt
November 1, 2005
CMS Physician Voluntary Reporting System
The Disclosure Project applauds the launch of CMS' Physician Voluntary Reporting Program and encourages physicians to report on the 36 measures of clinical quality.
Disclosure Project press release
Factsheet
CMS Release
January 18, 2005
Development and Adoption of a National Health Information Network
Office of the National Coordinator Health Information Technology
January 17, 2005
HCAHPS - Hospital Patient Experience Survey
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
