Register

September

26
2017

8:30 am EDT - 4:45 pm EDT

Past Event

The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule and Alternative Payment Models

An event from the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy and the Urban Institute

  • Tuesday, September 26, 2017

    8:30 am - 4:45 pm EDT

Brookings Institution
Falk Auditorium

1775 Massachusetts Avenue N.W.
Washington, DC
20036

The current focus on improving Medicare physician payment through a variety of Alternative Payment Models (APMs) is widely perceived as a major shift away from fee-for-service, therefore reducing the importance of improving Medicare’s Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). But even if APMs eventually replace the PFS as the dominant payment methods, key aspects of the fee schedule (or an equivalent tool) will remain important and deserve attention. Not only does the PFS continue to govern nearly $90 billion in Medicare payments annually, it also serves as the basis for, among other things, setting payment rates, making real-time payments to providers, and calculating shared savings.

On Tuesday, September 26, the Urban Institute, the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy, and the Actuarial Research Corporation hosted a one-day conference on the evolution and state of the PFS and to consider the movement to new payment models. The conference included four sessions and a brief lunchtime address, and feature experts involved in designing and implementing the PFS 25 years ago, those currently working on improvements to the PFS, and those working to design and implement new APMs and other innovations.

Session 1- Physician Fee Schedule: Origins and Evolution

Session 2- Relationship between PFS and Alternative Payment Models (APMs)

Luncheon Panel

Session 3- Establishing Relative Values: Challenge and Options

Session 4- What's Next for the Physician Fee Schedule

Agenda

  • September 26
    • Introduction to the Day

      8:30 am - 8:45 am

      Eric Schneider
      Eric Schneider Senior Vice President for Policy and Research - Commonwealth Fund
      Robert Berenson
      Robert Berenson Institute Fellow - Urban Institute, (formerly led Medicare payment policy at the Health Care Financing Administration)
    • Session 1: Physician Fee Schedule: Origins and Evolution

      8:45 am - 10:15 am

      Moderator

      Lauren LeRoy Strategic Advisor - LeRoy Strategies, (former Executive Director of the Physician Payment Review Commission)

      Panelist

      Chip Kahn
      Chip Kahn President and CEO - Federation of American Hospitals, (former staff director, Subcommittee on Health, House Ways and Means Committee)
      Mark Miller
      Mark Miller Executive Director - Medicare Payment Advisory Committee
      Barbara Levy
      Barbara Levy Vice President for Health Policy and Advocacy - The American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, (former chair of the American Medical Association's Relative Value Update Committee)
    • Session 2: Relationship between PFS and Alternative Payment Models (APMs)

      10:30 am - 12:00 pm

      Moderator

      Robert Berenson
      Robert Berenson Institute Fellow - Urban Institute, (formerly led Medicare payment policy at the Health Care Financing Administration)

      Panelist

      Mai Pham
      Mai Pham Vice President Provider Alignment Solutions - Anthem, (former Chief Innovation Officer at CMMI)
      Simeon Schwartz
      Simeon Schwartz CEO - Westmed Practice Partners
      Frank Opelka Medical Director for Quality and Health Policy, Division of Advocacy and Health Policy - American College of Surgeons
      Grace Terrell
      Grace Terrell CEO - Envision Genomics, Former President and CEO - Cornerstone Health Care, current member - Physician Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC)
      Alan Lazaroff
      Alan Lazaroff Medical Director for Quality and Coding - Physician Health Partners, current member - Relative Value Update Committee (RUC)
    • Luncheon Panel

      12:45 pm - 1:30 pm

      Moderator

      Stephen Zuckerman Codirector and Senior Fellow, Health Policy Center - Urban Institute

      Panelist

      Victor Rodwin
      Victor Rodwin Professor of Health Policy and Management - NYU Wagner
      Antoine Groulx
      Antoine Groulx Deputy Director General of Health Services and Academic Medicine - Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services
      Simeon Schwartz
      Simeon Schwartz CEO - Westmed Practice Partners
    • Session 3: Establishing Relative Values: Challenge and Options

      1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

      Moderator

      Katie Merrell
      Katie Merrell Senior Research Analyst - Actuarial Research Corp (ARC), (former senior analyst for the Physician Payment Review Commission)

      Panelist

      Joseph Newhouse
      Joseph Newhouse John D. MacArthur Professor of Health Policy and Management - Harvard University, (former Commissioner, Physician Payment Review Commission)
      Stephen Zuckerman Codirector and Senior Fellow, Health Policy Center - Urban Institute
      Peter Hussey
      Peter Hussey Senior Policy Researcher - RAND Corporation
      Antoine Groulx
      Antoine Groulx Deputy Director General of Health Services and Academic Medicine - Quebec Ministry of Health and Social Services
    • Session 4: What's Next for the Physician Fee Schedule?

      3:15 pm - 4:30 pm

      Moderator

      Panelist

      Robert Berenson
      Robert Berenson Institute Fellow - Urban Institute, (formerly led Medicare payment policy at the Health Care Financing Administration)
      Gail Wilensky
      Gail Wilensky Senior Fellow and Director - Project HOPE, former Administrator of the Health Care Financing Administration (now CMS)
      Jonathan Blum
      Jonathan Blum Executive Vice President, Medical Affairs - CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, (former Principal Deputy Administrator, CMS)
      Karen Fisher
      Karen Fisher Chief Public Policy Officer - Association of American Medical Colleges, (former Senior Health Counsel Senate Finance Committee)
      Eric Schneider
      Eric Schneider Senior Vice President for Policy and Research - Commonwealth Fund
    • Closing Remarks

      4:30 pm - 4:45 pm