Patients Over Paperwork

Here is what the CMS is up to now. I guess they want to fix things. They want “public input on how to continue progress in the Patients over Paperwork initiative to reduce administrative burden and lower costs.”

Here is what they want to improve. I put my thoughts in parentheses:

• Reporting and documentation requirements (remove them)
• Coding and documentation requirements for Medicare or Medicaid payment (get rid of them)
• Prior authorization procedures (not needed)
• Policies and requirements for rural providers, clinicians, and beneficiaries (no need)
• Policies and requirements for dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid (no need)
• Beneficiary enrollment and eligibility determination (whatever)
• CMS processes for issuing regulations and policies (just don’t)

Direct primary care removes basically all of this. The administrative burdens are artificial.