CMS Announces Plans to Ease Regulatory Burden on Providers
CMS Administrator Seema Verma says physicians are spending too much time on paperwork
The agency has yet to release details, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services plans to reduce the amount of documentation necessary for payment and quality reporting. Verma said the agency is in the process of gathering feedback from providers to better understand specific areas of frustration and address them.
“Electronic health records that were supposed to make providers’ lives easier by freeing up more time to spend on patient care have distanced them from their patients,” Verma said in the post on the CMS blog. “New payment structures that were meant to increase coordination have added yet another layer of rules and requirements.”
Verma shared the changes in a blog post sharing her husband’s recent cardiac arrest at an airport and thanking first responders and medical professionals for their quick work to save his life. He is home and recovering, Verma said in the August 22 blog item.
CMS Administrator Seema Verma