Medicare's top boss touts health care reform (Dr. Don Berwick)

[cbayer]

The republicans are going to try and remove Dr. Berwick at the end of this session. We need to mobilize to keep him in place. IMHO, he is the best appointment Obama has made.

Posted: Friday, August 19, 2011 12:00 am | Updated: 7:40 am, Fri Aug 19, 2011.

By Jon Swedien Leader-Telegram staff


Hospitals and clinics should be compensated based on the quality of their care, not the number of procedures they provide, the top federal official overseeing Medicare and Medicaid said during a visit Thursday to Eau Claire.

-snip-

"We need to align the payment system toward ... outcomes," Berwick told the group of local hospital and clinic administrators.

President Barack Obama appointed Berwick to his position in 2010. Before that he was the CEO of a Cambridge, Mass., health care think tank, a Harvard professor and a pediatrician.

Berwick and Kind said reforming the nation's health care system will be difficult but necessary for the U.S. to reduce its deficit, given that health care costs are a major contributor to the nation's fiscal problems.

More at link:

http://www.leadertelegram.com/news/front_page/article_8432beaa-425c-532f-bbdd-6aff8a65e232.html

[DevonRex]

1. Excellent idea.

I have ties to HHS that may prevent me from action in this matter. I'll check.

In the meantime I'll give this a KnR.