Steven A. Wartman, MD, PhD June 13, 2007 President/CEO …

Steven A. Wartman, MD, PhD             June 13, 2007
President/CEO

Board of Directors
                                       The Honorable Benjamin L. Cardin
Michael V. Drake, MD
Chancellor                             The United States Senate
University of California, Irvine       509 Hart Senate Office Building
Chair
                                       Washington, DC 20510
Arthur Rubenstein, MBBCh
Executive Vice President for the
Health System                          Dear Senator Cardin:
Dean, School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Chair-Elect                            On behalf of the Association of Academic Health Centers (AAHC), I wish to
Frank B. Cerra, MD                     thank you for introducing S. 1519, the Voluntary Medicare Quality
Senior Vice President                  Reporting Act of 2007, and to express our support for the bill. The
for Health Sciences
University of Minnesota                Association of Academic Health Centers, a national non-profit organization
Immediate Past Chair                   representing more than 100 institutions nationwide, is dedicated to
John Fernandes, DO, MBA                improving the nation's health and well-being through the vigorous
President
Oklahoma State University              leadership of academic health centers.
Center for Health Sciences

Antonio M. Gotto, Jr., MD, DPhil       We are pleased to see that the Voluntary Medicare Quality Reporting Act
Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean         of 2007 proposes a thoughtful and prudent approach to crafting a quality
and Provost, Medical Affairs
Weill Medical College and Graduate     measurement system for physicians providing care to Medicare
School of Medical Sciences
Cornell University
                                       beneficiaries. Your bill addresses numerous concerns with the program
                                       set to begin this July from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services
Jane E. Henney, MD
Senior Vice President and              (CMS) that will make physicians who report certain quality measures to
Provost for Health Affairs             the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) eligible for
University of Cincinnati
                                       bonus Medicare payments.
Philip A. Pizzo, MD
Dean, School of Medicine
Stanford University                    Improving quality measurement is a worthy goal, and one that we have
Sheldon M. Retchin, MD, MSPH           long endorsed. We are pleased to see increased attention to this
Chief Executive Officer VCU Health     important issue. However, it is imperative that we approach quality
System, Vice President for Health
Sciences                               measurement carefully and responsibly, as your bill acknowledges. We
Virginia Commonwealth University
                                       believe, as you do, that it is critical that Medicare beneficiaries receive the
Fred Sanfilippo, MD, PhD               best and most appropriate care. To achieve this goal, quality measures
Senior Vice President and
Executive Dean for Health Sciences     must be clinically valid and account for the variety of care settings and
Chief Executive Officer, OSU Medical   populations being served by our nation's health professionals.
Center
The Ohio State University

Larry J. Shapiro, MD                   Creating a meaningful quality measurement system will require the
President, Washington University       careful development of appropriate criteria and effective reporting
Medical Center, Executive Vice
Chancellor for Medical Affairs and     processes, and we are concerned that CMS is proceeding with undue
Dean, School of Medicine               haste on this important matter. Implementing an untested system of
Washington University
                                       reporting merely for the sake of reporting would be counterproductive
Andrew A. Sorensen, PhD                and would not serve the best interests of our health system or the
President
University of South Carolina



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The Honorable Benjamin L. Cardin
Page 2
June 13, 2007

public. CMS's intention to make the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI)
permanent by 2008 does not provide sufficient time to evaluate the program before
moving forward.

Your bill ensures that such a system will be developed through a rigorous and orderly
process that will involve careful consultation with the health professionals who will be
crucial to the success and effectiveness of the program. We applaud your efforts to
improve this process, and urge you to continue to work for meaningful ways of
promoting quality care.

Again, thank you for introducing this legislation; I look forward to working with you in
the future to improve the quality of our nation's health care.

Sincerely,




Steven A. Wartman, MD, PhD, MACP
President/CEO

cc: Dr. Steve E. Phurrough