Latest News
Are Medicare’s patient satisfaction surveys contributing to opioid abuse?
Could Medicare’s patient satisfaction surveys be contributing to the abuse of prescription opioid pain relievers (OPRs)? Two U.S. senators think so, and they want the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) to investigate. Dianne Feinstein (D-California)In a recent letter to CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner, Senators Dianne Feinstein (D-California) and Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), note that Medicare increasingly is linking hospital reimbursement to performance. And while it is important for hospitals to get patient feedback, “…there is growing anecdotal evidence that these [patient satisfaction] surveys may be having the unintended effect of encouraging practitioners to prescribe OPRs unnecessarily and improperly,..Read More