How CMS head Seema Verma feels about 5 key healthcare issues

Practice Management
Laura Dyrda -

Congress conducted confirmation hearings with Seema Verma to head CMS last week.

Here is where she stands on five key healthcare trends, according to Medscape:

 

1. EHR technology. Ms. Verma discussed ensuring EHR data collection wasn't "burdensome" for the providers or take away from the patient-physician relationship. She also cited interoperability as a huge challenge during her confirmation hearings.

 

2. Healthcare regulations. Like many in the Trump administration, she feels fewer regulations are better and would prefer to leave healthcare decision making up to the physicians and patients.

 

3. Medicare pilot projects. Ms. Verma prefers to eliminate mandatory participation in Medicare pilots, making participation voluntary to promote innovation.

 

4. MACRA. She feels the amount of risk the program asks physicians to take is "unrealistically high" for rural and small practice.

 

5. State Medicaid programs. Ms. Verma was instrumental in developing the "consumer-directed" Medicaid program in Indiana. She said during her confirmation hearings that she'd be open to converting Medicare to a block grant or per capita cap program.

 

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