1. CMS Applauds Governor Hickenlooper's Appointment of Jim Riesberg to Lead Colorado's Division of Insurance
The Colorado Medical Society extended warm congratulations to Jim Riesberg upon his appointment to lead the Division of Insurance. Working with him in the past in a legislative capacity, we have been extremely impressed with his thoughtful approach to policy issues. We know that as the Commissioner of Insurance, he will continue his passionate and excellent service to the citizens of Colorado in his new consumer protection role. We look forward to working with him.
Read CMS letter to Rep. Reisberg here.
Read CMS letter to Gov. Hickenlooper here.
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2. Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate Formula and Deficit Reduction Negotiations
CMS joined the American Medical Association today in strongly urging the White House and Congress to repeal the Medicare SGR formula and permanently reform the Medicare physician payment system as part of any final agreement between Congress and the Administration on authorizing an increase in the debt ceiling. In a letter to the Colorado congressional delegation, CMS President Mike Pramenko, MD, wrote that "any serious proposal to confront the fiscal challenges facing our nation, and the Medicare program in particular, must address the massive funding deficit caused by the repeated failure to replace the SGR".
Click here to read the full text of Dr. Pramenko's letter and here for the communication from the AMA.
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3. Immediate Opportunity For Your Personal Input to Gov. Hickenlooper: Where Does Your Practice Get Held Up By Government Red Tape and How Would You Change Things?
CMS has received a personal invitation from the Executive Director of the Dept. of Regulatory Agencies to participate in a small roundtable discussion on regulatory "red tape" and inefficiencies. They have asked us to submit 10 examples of specific government rules, procedures or processes that make it harder for our members to conduct business and serve patients.
Please help us respond to this request! Send us up to three examples of government red tape that impedes your practice, and how you would recommend fixing it. Please focus your comments on state or county government concerns (not federal or municipal). Think about such regulatory issues as Medicaid requirements, medical waste disposal, facility compliance, licensure requirements, etc.
PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR RESPONSES TO EDIE SONN, edie_sonn@cms.org, BY CLOSE OF BUSINESS TUESDAY, JULY 5. We'll compile and compare the responses and share the top 10 with the Governor's cabinet members.
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4. Save the date: 2011 CMS Annual Meeting will be Sept. 8-11, Beaver Run Resort and Conference Center, Breckenridge CO
Join delegates, physician leaders and national experts to work on a long-term vision of how "Breakthrough Connections Can Build a Medical Neighborhood." Address an array of policy issues and understand the tools that will drive greater access and care coordination. Join the best thinkers and increase your understanding of critical issues. Most importantly, become inspired as a result of your renewed awareness of your potential capacity as leaders to make new concepts work in the real world.
For more information and to register, please click here.
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5. How Can Physicians Improve Colorado Health Care? Your Opinion Needed!
We need your insights and views on patient and family centered medical homes and their connectivity to a broader medical/specialty "neighborhood." Can you take a few minutes to help us update our previous physician views and knowledge from our baseline survey conducted in 2009? The aggregated results will help us adjust key design strategies and realign incentives to support physicians in adapting their practices to evolving delivery and payment systems. Speaking of incentives, your participation puts you in the pool to win an iPad2.
As you may know, Colorado is the site of several nationally-supported pilots to enhance care coordination, patient hand-off communications, and related collaborative delivery system efforts. These initiatives aim to enhance the value of our services over time by developing evidence-based care models that improve outcomes and support the delivery of high quality, efficient and patient-centric care. Among the most prominent and promising is the synergy of connecting a functioning medical home delivery model with its medical neighborhood. You no doubt understand that creating efficient, clinically-grounded systems from scratch requires unprecedented levels of physician, payer, and institutional cooperation. Your ideas and opinions can significantly influence how we transform these often disparate and fragmented components into a true medical community.
Your input is vital! Data from this poll will further the development of policy, information, education, and programs to improve medical homes and systems of care in your practice and your community.
Please complete the survey and encourage your colleagues to do the same, by clicking here.
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