WASHINGTON— In a new report about the new dialysis bundling rule, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) begin monitoring access to and quality of dialysis care for certain beneficiary groups as soon as possible after implementation of the new bundled payment system.
CMS agreed with this recommendation.
Read the entire report HERE.
The GAO study found populations of dialysis patients have varying costs. African Americans, dually eligible and younger end-stage renal disease patients have higher-than-average costs, and Asian Americans and elderly patients have lower-than-average costs.
Also, a majority of clinicians surveyed said that clinical factors, not demographics, drive variation in expenditures, according to the GAO report.
As a result of these findings, the GAO recommended that CMS monitor access to and quality of care for certain beneficiary groups as soon as possible after implementation of the new system.
In response to the report, the CMS announced their intention to have a comprehensive system in place to monitor the quality of care once the bundled payment system is implemented next year.
"As we transition to bundled payments, CMS has a duty to ensure that vulnerable populations continue to have access to effective dialysis treatment through Medicare," said Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., Chair of the House Ways and Means Oversight Subcommittee. "A robust monitoring system that takes into account the unique needs of vulnerable populations is a critical and important step in ensuring that bundled payments will not have a negative impact on the care that all ESRD patients receive."
