The bill, the Patients’ Right to Know Act (H.R. 4803), is supported by the advocacy committee and was introduced by Reps. Joe Barton (R-Tex.) and Bart Stupak (D-Mich.). Chris Holden, a member of the ASCAC and president and CEO of AmSurg, made remarks on the bill at a hearing of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.
“We believe this bill will empower patients with critical information in order to make more informed decisions on where to receive their care,” he told the committee. “Because many outpatient surgeries can be performed in hospitals and ASCs, it is important to provide patients with meaningful price comparisons across settings.”
The ASCAC said many Americans are still unaware that ASCs provide savings for patients, payors and taxpayers through lower Medicare reimbursements than hospital outpatient departments provide. ASCAC said Medicare patients can save more than 50 percent in out-of-pocket costs and the Medicare program 40 percent in ASCs versus HOPDs.
On the quality side, more than 20 percent of ASCs already voluntarily reporting results on ASC quality measures endorsed by the National Quality Forum, and ASCs have been urging CMS to implement a system for nationwide quality reporting.
Read the ASC Advocacy Committee’s release on quality reporting.
