Patient Safety | 06.30.20
CMS Announces Organizational Change to Limit Provider and Clinician Burden and Improve Patient Outcomes
by NAMSS Government Relations
On June 23, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the formation of the Office of Burden Reduction and Health Informatics “to unify the agency’s efforts to reduce regulatory and administrative burden and to further the goal of putting patients first.” The new office is a part of ongoing efforts to implement the President’s 2017 Executive Order to “eliminate duplicative, unnecessary, and excessively costly requirements and regulations.”
Three years ago, CMS launched the Patients over Paperwork (PoP) Initiative, which focused on reducing administrative burdens so providers could focus on delivering patient care. CMS predicts the initiative will save “providers and clinicians $6.6 billion and 42 million unnecessary hours through 2021.”
The Office will work to decrease the hours and costs clinicians and hospitals incur for CMS-mandated compliance by expanding the quantity of clinicians, hospitals, and health plans the Agency connects with to ensure CMS understands how regulatory burdens affect healthcare delivery. Stakeholder input is important in tending to hospital and clinician burden, as it encourages CMS to expel or alter obsolete regulations that hinder advancement, resulting in better healthcare delivery. Also, the Office will concentrate on the significant work of health informatics, which uses and applies data and clinical information to improve healthcare delivery. View the full CMS Press Release for more information.