How Can Hospitals Abide By The Latest Guidelines Of CMS?
Recently the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an action plan that illustrates the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continuous efforts to deliver high-quality, accessible health care to all individuals, irrespective of their background, and promote health equity.
Simply put, CMS wants to set and raise the bar for a sustainable, high-value healthcare system that prioritizes excellent outcomes, safety, equity, and availability for all people, particularly those in historically underserved and under-resourced areas. Thereby, it is the responsibility of the hospitals to help CMS accomplish their set goals and provide transparency to the patients.
What Are CMS National Quality Strategy Goals?
In order to ensure that every citizen of the country avails the benefits of high-quality healthcare along with adequate transparency, the Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Service has led down the following goals for hospitals to adhere to:
- Integrate Quality into the Care Journey: As part of the broader care journey, include quality as a core element to delivering value. Here quality refers to providing optimal care and the best outcomes for people of all ages and backgrounds, as well as across service delivery systems and locations. It is also worth mentioning that quality extends to all types of payers.
- Advance Health Equity: To ensure equitable access and care for everyone, address the inequities that are affecting our health system, both within and across different environments.
- Ensure Safety: Avoiding harm or death as a result of medical errors.
- Strengthen Resilience: Ensure that the healthcare system is resilient in order to plan for and respond to challenges ahead and emergencies.
- Encourage Interaction: Increase engagement among persons and their care teams to improve quality, build trust, and elevate the voices of people and caregivers.
- Encourage Technology and Innovation: Accelerate innovation in care delivery and embrace technological advancements (e.g., telemedicine, machine learning, advanced analytics, new care breakthroughs) to alter care quality and advance value.
- Embrace the Digital Age: Use interoperable, shareable, and standardized digital data across the healthcare ecosystem to ensure prompt, secure, and seamless interaction and care coordination between providers, plans, payers, community organizations, and individuals.
Apart from these, CMS is also focusing on providing price transparency in coverage to facilitate treatment plans for patients and payers.
Hospital Price Transparency
Transparency in hospital pricing allows payers to understand the cost of a hospital item or service before they receive it. Every hospital in the United States is expected to offer clear, accessible pricing information about the commodities and services they provide online in two ways:
- As a digital file containing all items and services.
- A showcase of shoppable services in a consumer-friendly manner.
Consumers will be able to buy and compare prices among hospitals, as well as anticipate the cost of care without having to go to the hospital with this information. An easy way for patients to avail its benefits is by deploying price transparency in healthcare solutions in the business.
In fact, statistics show that 8 in 10 members or patients want their healthcare plan to provide them with price transparency. According to recent sources, most corporate health plans and issuers of the group or individual health insurance will start displaying pricing information for covered items and services on July 1, 2022. Third parties, including researchers and app developers, can utilize this pricing data to assist customers in better understanding the costs of their health care.
Advancing Health Equity
CMS will encourage health care executives to make commitments to advance health equity, such as planning, executing, and operationalizing initiatives that improve health in order to address systematic imbalances across the industry. This approach also includes eliminating unnecessary gaps in health outcomes for people who are disadvantaged or underserved, as well as providing treatment and assistance to people, particularly those with Medicare, Medicaid, or Marketplace coverage.
CMS will bring together industry players, such as health care facilities, insurance companies, state officials, and providers to ensure long-term development through significant initiatives.
Why Should Hospitals Implement The Necessary Changes Immediately?
Following the guidelines of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and using price transparency solutions will help hospitals and healthcare providers earn the trust of their customers. It will also allow the payers to make a well-thought-out decision and choose the best service for them.
Not to forget, it will help minimize the risk of medical malpractice or any other possible fraud; thus, stakeholders can enjoy a sense of security.
To Sum It All Up
Coordination, new thinking, and collaboration across all institutions are essential for the CMS strategy’s success. A unified strategy puts all healthcare providers closer to a better, more realistic, and accessible healthcare system for all people.
