Medicare will soon launch a program called “My Health, My Medicare” that will give beneficiaries more tools for personalizing their health records and getting information about their health care.
The program is expected to be a step toward a personal health record for all Medicare recipients. Dr. Mark McClellan, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, unveiled the plan today as he announced his resignation from CMS.
McClellan provided no details about the new program but said it would be launched before he leaves the agency early next month.
Asked about the future of health information technology and its role in CMS programs, McClellan suggested that Medicare has contributed to the lag in doctors’ adoption of e-medical records. “You get what you pay for,” he said.
As long as Medicare reimburses doctors more for doing more tests and seeing more patients, he said, “it’s easy to see why physicians can’t make ends meet” and can’t afford investments in clinical records systems.
To change the situation, he said, CMS is “making a strong move to pay for quality care,” rather than quantity of care. The agency’s experience to date shows that when it pays doctors for quality and coordination of care, he said, “you do get investment in health IT.”
After his departure, McClellan said, he expects to spend some time in Texas, where his mother, Carole Keeton Strayhorn, is an independent candidate for governor. After that he will take a job with a Washington, D.C., think tank, although he does not know which one yet, he said.
He told reporters in a press teleconference that he could not speculate about who would succeed him, but he said there are many talented managers at CMS.
McClellan, who has served as an economist, White House adviser, health care policy leader and administrator for almost eight years in the Bush and Clinton administrations, said he wanted to spend more time with his family.
“I think this is a good time for a transition,” he said, because most of CMS’ major initiatives are well under way.
Government Health IT presents Liesa Jo Jenkins, executive director of CareSpark, in this recent eSeminar, where she shared her experiences and insight into building a health information exchange that enhances community health, rewards regional collaboration and drives economic progress.
