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CMS Seeks Public Input on Patients over Paperwork Initiative

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a Request for Information (RFI) seeking new ideas from the public on how to continue the progress of the Patients over Paperwork initiative.

This is a continuation of CMS's efforts to streamline regulations to cut the "red tape" that weighs down our health care system and takes clinicians away from their primary mission: caring for patients. You may recall last year’s RFI initiative and the productive listening sessions that CMS held with LeadingAge at its national conference in the fall to solicit input from long term care providers.

CMS is seeking innovative ideas to relieve burden and improve care, including:

  • Modification or streamlining of reporting requirements, documentation requirements, or processes to monitor compliance to CMS rules and regulations;
  • Aligning of Medicare, Medicaid, and other payer coding, payment and documentation requirements, and processes;
  • Enabling of operational flexibility, feedback mechanisms, and data sharing that would enhance patient care, support the clinician-patient relationship, and facilitate individual preferences; and
  • New recommendations regarding when and how CMS issues regulations and policies and how CMS can simplify rules and policies for beneficiaries, clinicians, and providers.

CMS is also interested in ways it can:

  • Improve the accessibility and presentation of CMS requirements for quality reporting, coverage, documentation, or prior-authorization;
  • Address specific policies or requirements that are overly burdensome, not achievable, or cause unintended consequences in a rural setting;
  • Clarify or simplify regulations or operations that pose challenges for beneficiaries dually enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid and those who care for such beneficiaries; and
  • Simplify beneficiary enrollment and eligibility determination across programs.

LeadingAge NY continues to advocate for greater provider flexibility on processes relating to documentation and authorization of care. We encourage members to comment directly to CMS and reach out to LeadingAge NY staff to provide input for inclusion in a more comprehensive comment letter. Comments are due Aug. 12, 2019.

For more information, please see the following:

Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871