Opinion

CMS no-pay list call to action

LETTER — Posted Aug. 4, 2008

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Regarding "AMA meeting: Delegates decry CMS no-pay list as unrealistic and call for revision" (Article, July 7): I understand the intent of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services when it removes payment for "preventable" complications that occur after inpatient admission.

While it is appropriate for medicine to complain of its unintended consequences, what is our solution to CMS' dilemma? Would we as homeowners want to pay more to a contractor to repair damages that are avoidable?

Doctors are known for not following evidence-based guidelines; if this were not true, we would not need CMS' Hospital Compare Web site. Rather than complain, let's thank heaven that only hospitals are being penalized and work with them to document and reduce these conditions.

James S. Kennedy, MD, Smyrna, Tenn.

Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2008/08/04/edlt0804.htm.

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