Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Advocates Pressing Medicare To Promote Advance Directives Among Beneficiaries
Modern Healthcare: Healthcare Groups, Lawmakers Push Medicare To Promote Advance Directives
Although the CMS reimburses clinicians for advance care planning during Medicare patients' yearly wellness visits, the agency has yet to encourage patients to set up these plans. It shows: Two-thirds of American adults do not have advance directives to guide their healthcare if they become unable to communicate. ... But even if a person has an advance directive, it may be hard to use. (Amdt, 9/13)
Modern Healthcare: Providers Find Success In CMS' Multipayer Model
Dr. Katherine Clark was tired of the fee-for-service status quo. Every day, she would go through the same motions: see patients, treat their ailment and not see them again until they had a new health issue. But those patients weren't getting better in the long run, and she wanted the cycle to end. That required a change in how she and other members in her practice were paid. ... When the practice was accepted into the CMS' Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative, it moved from the standard care pattern to one that put more emphasis on preventive screenings and follow-ups. Not only did she notice an overall improvement in quality of care, her practice also achieved notable savings under the model. (Dickson, 9/13)
