CMS has finalized their proposed
Medicare rule (regulation) for how hospitals are paid that includes a new
measure assessing the quality of hospital informed consent documents given to
patients before elective procedures. (The relevant section, Potential Inclusion of the Quality of Informed
Consent Documents for Hospital-Performed, Elective Procedures Measure starts
here
on p. 373 of the pdf file – p. 38362 of the Federal Register Rules and
Regulations 82:155, 8/14/17). The rule will make an important difference in supporting
patient-centered care in hospitals across the US. The current state of hospital
informed consent documents is embarrassingly poor. Under this rule, the 4,700
US hospitals that treat Medicaid members will be paid, in part, based on the
quality of their informed consent documents. The measure may also be included
in public quality comparisons such as Hospital Compare, allowing patients to
use this measure in choosing between hospitals for their care. Many thanks to
all who submitted supportive public comments to the proposed rule.
