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06/26/2019
CMS Issues RFI Seeking New Ideas on Patients Over Paperwork Initiative
On Thursday, June 7, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking new ideas from the public on how to continue the progress of the Patients over Paperwork initiative. Since launching in Fall 2017, Patients over Paperwork has streamlined regulations to significantly cut the “red tape” that weighs down our healthcare system and takes clinicians away from their primary mission—caring for patients.
As of January 2019, CMS estimates that through regulatory reform alone, the healthcare system will save an estimated 40 million hours and $5.7 billion through 2021. These estimated savings come from both final and proposed rules.
The RFI invites patients and their families, the medical community, and other healthcare stakeholders to recommend further changes to rules, policies, and procedures that would shift more of clinicians’ time and our healthcare system’s resources from needless paperwork to high-quality care that improves patient health.
The RFI provides an opportunity for LeadingAge Ohio members to share new ideas not conveyed during the first Patients over Paperwork RFI in 2017 and continue the conversation on improving healthcare delivery. CMS is seeking innovative ideas that broaden perspectives on potential solutions to relieve burden and ways 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 dually enrolled (i.e., Medicare and Medicaid) beneficiaries
- Beneficiary enrollment and eligibility determination
- CMS processes for issuing regulations and policies
The RFI on Reducing Administrative Burden to Put Patients over Paperwork is posted in the Federal Register and can be accessed by clicking here.
Comments must be submitted by August 12, 2019.
More information on the Patients over Paperwork initiative is available by clicking here.
Sign up for the Patients over Paperwork Newsletter by clicking here.