National Advocacy Meeting, Washington DC - Day 2

Briefing by Don Berwick, M.D. - Director of CMS

This was a particularly good session. I have never seen a person in a government regulation position receive two standing ovations. Dr. Berwick opened by pointing out the enormity of the task before us. He also noted that in essence Medicare is the world’s largest insurance company responsible for 800 billion dollars with 4,400 employees. Yet, he was very inviting to the 1,000 physicians in attendance noting that the answers to healthcare in the United States in the era of the Accountable Care Act lay in the hands of America’s physicians not the government. He proffered that better care is possible, resulting in better health for people who we care for along with lower cost. The secret to being able to accomplish these three imperatives is through the door of quality. And the tools for improved quality are simplifying care, modernity (EMR’s), security, and pro-activity in the area of patient safety. Cooperation and application of new knowledge must be by physician led teams of healthcare professionals. He pointed to the fact that at this very moment there are over 40,000 randomized trials going on throughout the world. The medical profession is on the brink of an explosion of medical knowledge and treatments that will be coming on line rapidly and must have physicians aiding in the coordination of all that is coming along.

More later