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Health & Wellness
Medicare Payment Overhaul Must Recognize Varying Needs of Patients
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Mayo calls for system that rewards quality, value at all levels of care; seeks SGR repeal
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_3eA2vziQ8
As Congress turns its attention to Medicare’s payment system, Mayo Clinic President and CEO John Noseworthy, M.D., says it must recognize the full spectrum of care and reward providers who deliver high-quality, efficient care across that spectrum. In written testimony to the Senate Finance Committee, Dr. Noseworthy says, “Our health care system must be flexible and adaptable to the varying needs of patients. We propose creation of a Medicare payment system that recognizes the different types of care and rewards the quality and value of each, whether primary, intermediate or complex care.”
On any given day at Mayo Clinic, patient care ranges from the simple to the complex. One person may come in for a blood pressure checkup; another, new knees. A third may need cutting-edge therapies, complicated care from several specialists, diagnosis of a mysterious illness — or all of the above. Noseworthy says, “One irony of the current Medicare payment system is that physicians who provide the most efficient care are penalized, while those who order unnecessary tests or perform more services are paid more. We need to create new, negotiated payment models that tie reimbursement to patient-centered care and quality outcomes along the spectrum of care.”
The Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on health care quality, Wednesday, June 26.
Click here for news release
Read letter: Mayo Clinic Senate Finance Testimony 6 26 2013
Journalists: Sound bites with Dr. Noseworthy and B-roll of Mayo Clinic campuses are in the downloads.
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