The White House announced on April 19 that it has nominated Dr. Donald Berwick to lead the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
The nomination of Dr. Berwick, a pediatrician who is president and chief executive officer of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, had been rumored for weeks.
In a statement released by the White House, President Obama said, “Dr. Berwick has dedicated his career to improving outcomes for patients and providing better care at lower cost. That's one of the core missions facing our next CMS Administrator.”
Physicians' organizations began to express enthusiasm for Dr. Berwick's nomination even before it was made official. The American Medical Association praised Dr. Berwick's “visionary leadership efforts” in quality and patient safety in a statement by Dr. Nancy H. Nielsen, the AMA's immediate -past president.
With the passage of health reform and the continuing lack of a permanent solution for the fee cuts threatened by Medicare's sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, Dr. Berwick will have a full plate if he is confirmed by the Senate.
Physicians, hospitals, insurers, consumers, and pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers all are hoping to influence how the law is implemented.
The medical device industry lobby, AdvaMed, issued a statement praising Dr. Berwick's “compelling vision,” but reminded him also of what he will be taking on. “There is perhaps no more important job in health care,” said Stephen J. Ubl, president and CEO of AdvaMed. “The decisions made by Dr. Berwick will affect the lives of America's seniors and every health care provider, and CMS will play a pivotal role in implementing the comprehensive health reform program recently enacted by Congress.”
For his part, Dr. Berwick said in a statement that he felt “flattered and humbled” at his nomination. He added, “If confirmed by the U.S. Senate, I would welcome the opportunity to lead CMS because it offers the chance to help extend the effort to improve America's health care system—the very vision that led to the founding of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.”
Dr. Berwick is a affiliated with Children's Hospital Boston, and is a consultant in pediatrics at Massachusetts General Hospital. He is an elected member of the Institute of Medicine, and previously chaired the National Advisory Council for the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. He also served on President Clinton's Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and Quality in the Healthcare Industry in 1997 and 1998.