A large collection of state health agencies and advocates is pleading with the federal government to drastically change a key part of Medicare they say is contributing to the opioid epidemic.
The collection of groups wants to remove pain questions from patient satisfaction surveys, arguing that the surveys pressure doctors to prescribe unnecessary opioids in the hope of getting a better score on the surveys. The overprescribing of painkillers is a key contributor to the epidemic that kills more than 72 Americans daily.
The groups sent a letter to the Joint Commission, a group that accredits hospitals and other healthcare organizations, and to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
“The current requirements for hospitals and other healthcare organizations to assess patients’ pain encourage unnecessary, unhelpful and unsafe pain treatments that interfere with primary disease management,” said Dr. Michael Carome, director of the advocacy group Public Citizen’s Health Research Group, in a statement Wednesday.
The groups want CMS to remove pain questions from a patient satisfaction survey. The results of the survey are used to determine a hospital’s reimbursement rate, which can lead to undue pressure on doctors to prescribe opioids to get a good score, the letter said.
“Aggressive management of pain should not be equated with quality healthcare as it can result in unhelpful and unsafe treatment, the end point of which is often the inappropriate provision of opioids,” the letter said.
Tying reimbursement rates to patient satisfaction surveys is part of a larger effort by the federal government to shift toward reimbursements tied to quality of care, rather than the traditional fee-for-service model.
A bipartisan Senate bill would require CMS to end the pain management questions in surveys.
CMS told the Washington Examiner that it is reviewing how pain management is assessed in the surveys used by hospitals and other providers.
The letter to the Joint Commission, a key body whose word can decide how much a hospital gets from Medicare, called for the end to mandatory pain assessments in all patients in all medical settings.
Nearly 60 groups that include rehab centers, state health departments and advocacy groups signed the letters.
