President Barack Obama will soon nominate Donald Berwick, MD, to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, according to a statement released Saturday by Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee.
If nominated and approved, Berwick would relieve Charlene Frizzera, who has been acting administrator of CMS since January 2009. The administrator of CMS is responsible for more than one-third of Americans' healthcare, and would play a major role in implementing the new healthcare reform laws passed last week. The law builds on a platform of pay-for-performance and includes provisions to simplify healthcare administration, calling for the widespread use of healthcare IT.
The Medical Group Management Association issued a statement applauding Berwick's impending nomination. "Berwick has long been a leading voice in the quest for improving the quality and safety of patient care for all Americans," MGMA leaders said.
"As healthcare organizations and professionals shape a reformed healthcare delivery system, his knowledge and proven leadership will be critical to success," MGMA said. "His knowledge of quality improvement also offers great opportunities for improving the efficiency of CMS' internal operations – a critical factor in reducing administrative costs."
Ron Pollack, executive director of the consumer health group Families USA said Berwick is "an excellent choice."
"His internationally renowned work promoting quality of healthcare will enable him to bring unparalleled expertise and experience in implementing the new health reform legislation," Pollack said. "Dr. Berwick has been a pioneer in the field of health care quality. As a result, he is in an excellent position to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid in the years ahead."
Berwick is currently president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, Mass. According to the Institute, Berwick is one of the nation's leading authorities on healthcare quality and improvement. He is also clinical professor ofPediatrics and health care policy at the Harvard Medical School, and professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health.
Berwick has served as vice chair of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the first "independent member" of the Board of Trustees of the American Hospital Association, and chair of the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
An elected member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), Berwick served two terms on the IOM's governing Council and was a member of the IOM's Global Health Board.
Berwick is a recipient of numerous awards, including the 1999 Joint Commission's Ernest Amory Codman Award, the 2002 American Hospital Association's Award of Honor, the 2006 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Individual Achievement from the National Quality Forum and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the 2007 William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research, and the 2007 Heinz Award for Public Policy from the Heinz Family Foundation.
Grassley said vetting of the position by the Senate Finance Committee could be arduous, as the committee "will need to explore the nominee's preparedness for the enormous challenges that face the agency."
"This is always a big job, but the administration of healthcare reform, which includes implementing the hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicare cuts and the biggest expansion of Medicaid in its history, will make it more challenging than ever," Grassley said.
