In a recent statement, Bruce M. Gans, MD, American Medical Rehabilitation Providers Association (AMRPA), voiced the organization’s approval regarding the recent passage of the IMPACT Act in the Senate. Gans emphasizes that AMRPA supports the IMPACT Act’s goal of generating comparable data regarding post-acute care outcomes, adding that the analysis of patient outcomes should serve as a significant driver for policy decisions.
In the statement, Gans maintains, “The collection and analysis of comparable quality data is essential for developing sound Medicare post-acute reforms. Too often payment reforms have been focused more on cost than on patient outcomes,” he adds, “This needs to change. Care should be delivered in the most appropriate setting to achieve the best patient outcomes. It is critical that payment policies not override what the evidence supports and expert clinicians decide on when and where a patient should receive care.”
Gans goes on to call for a second step to ensure similar data from acute care hospitals is collected to assist in creating predictors for which post-acute setting a patient should be offered.
The statement concludes with Gans articulating AMRPA’s appreciation for Congress’s work in moving forward toward post-acute reform, “We look forward to working with CMS to help implement the intent of this legislation,” Gans says.
AMRPA is a trade organization dedicated to the interests of Inpatient Rehabilitation Hospitals and Units (IRH/U), outpatient rehabilitation centers, and other medical rehabilitation providers.
Source: AMRPA
