Alliance of Specialty Medicine
Testimony for the Record
Before the House Energy and Commerce Committee
Subcommittee on Health
Hearing Entitled
“Reforming SGR: Prioritizing Quality in a Modernized Physician Payment System”
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Chairman Pitts, Ranking Member Pallone, members of the Committee, and honored guests, the Alliance
of Specialty Medicine (the Alliance) would like to thank the House Energy and Commerce Committee
for the opportunity to provide feedback on its May 28, 2013 draft legislation. The Alliance strongly
supports your intent to repeal Medicare’s sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula and to replace it with a
payment system that places greater emphasis on quality and efficiency. The Alliance is a coalition of
medical specialty societies representing more than 100,000 physicians and surgeons dedicated to the
development of sound federal healthcare policy that fosters patient access to the highest quality specialty
care.
Our written testimony will not only detail some outstanding questions and concerns regarding the Fee
Schedule Provider Competency Update Incentive Program, which the Committee proposes as Phase 2 of
its Medicare payment reform proposal, but also briefly outline our suggestions and principles for SGR
reform. We would be happy to discuss our concerns and principles with you, as well as any other
questions you may have going forward.
The Alliance again thanks the Committee for the opportunity to provide feedback and looks forward to
working with you to refine this legislation and work toward a permanent and meaningful solution to the
flawed physician payment system.
Many of the Alliance’s specialty society member organizations currently have, or are in the process of
developing, physician-driven quality improvement initiatives, including the development of clinically relevant performance measures based on evidence-based guidelines, the management of clinical data
registries and enhanced maintenance of certification (MOC) programs. While more work remains, these
physician-driven initiatives often result in a more accurate snapshot of specialty care and produce more
relevant feedback to specialty physicians than current federal initiatives, which lack sufficient flexibility
to accommodate different specialties and care settings, rely on measures that are inadequately risk
adjusted and not necessarily linked to better patient outcomes, and divert significant resources away
from direct patient care due to administrative complexities.
Taking these experiences into account, the Alliance appreciates the opportunity to share with the
Committee the following outstanding questions and to offer potential solutions regarding the Fee
Schedule Provider Competency Update Incentive Program, which the Committee proposes as Phase 2 of
its Medicare payment reform proposal:
…
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