CMS finalizes important patient-friendly informed consent payment proposal

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.